Agent X
by Chocolatelover2001
Summary: Lily Johnson, older sister to Daisy Johnson, hasn't had an easy life. Now she will do anything, lie, deceive, and manipulate her way to get her little sister back. But maybe she'll find a little bit of romance along the way. This is the story of how she learned to to trust, to love, and to believe. Set in TRoJ universe.
1. Old friend

**Hi everyone! Here's the new story! This will be centering on Agent X and Agent Smith. You did not have to read my other stories in order to grasp this. If you haven't, I highly recommend checking those out, and Agent X and Agent Smith are my OCs in the MCU. Enjoy! :)**

 **Disclaimer: I own my OCs and nothing else.**

 **1999**

My birth name is Lily Johnson, but I despise that name. I've been stuck here held captive for four years now. Right now I'm here, trying desperately to find some loophole, some way to get out. I have power inhibitors on most of the time, not by choice mind you, and the only time they get taken off is when they want to experiment on me.

It's been four year. Four whole years since I've seen my little sister. Daisy. Skye. Whichever name you want to call her by, I lost her. I told her I would never let her go. I promised her that I would keep her safe. She'll be 10 now, if she's even alive, and she probably despises me.

They told me that she's safe as long as I cooperate. I don't buy that. But they're not lying. I have three powers, a rare occurrence in any inhuman, from what I've been told. I have super healing, super speed, and the ability to view the memories of both people and objects. And I know, objects don't have memories. But anything that's happened in front of that object, I can see. If only I could do that now. I would've been out of here long ago.

I tried testing these stupid cuffs again, but it won't work. I know that. I'm weaker than ever, as they only feed me enough to keep me alive. I'm also severely dehydrated. And a single blow from one of them could knock me out.

I used to keep fighting, hopeful that I could get out. And after that I thought I could just try and cooperate, preserve my life so I could find Skye. And then I gave up, realizing that there's no way to get out. So I fight them with my defiance. Not trying to harm them really, because let's be honest, I couldn't harm a fly right now. Just trying not to give them the satisfaction of my cooperation. I thought I could try and stay alive, but I don't care if I die anymore. You know what? Bring it on. I'm ready. I've _been_ ready.

My thoughts were interrupted when _he_ walked in. Samuel Ellington. I despise him with every fiber of my being, and I often want to wipe that smug grin off his ugly face. Just looking at him makes me want to gag. He had a few strands of long, greasy hair, that he combed back, as if that made him handsome or something. He had a thin, long face, that was often displaying a sadistic grin, as it was now.

"Time for more exercises." he said joyfully. I rolled my eyes.

"Joy." I said sarcastically, my voice hoarse and dry. He punched me in the gut, the fake joy in his eyes draining. That's better, much less disconcerting.

"Don't give me attitude or you'll regret it." he said, his bad breath hitting me in the fac,e making me want to pass out right there.

"That's what you said last time. You're not going to do anything to me. You need me. You guys aren't smart enough to figure out what you want to know from your 'exercises', so you'll keep me around for as long as that takes you. Also, brush your teeth, would you?" I said, callign his bluff.

He uncuffed me and dragged me roughly by the arm, glaring at me. I winced. My arms are already covered in bruises, one more won't matter.

"Today we're trying something new." he said, grinning again.

"Care to enlighten me?" I asked, faking a smile. He punched me in the ribs, causing me to double over.

"You're going to stop giving that attitude, or I will find much worse methods of keeping you in line." he threatened, before his fake smile was plastered on again. "Now. You're going to run on that treadmill as fast as you can. And if you're running too slowly, we're going to turn the electric shocks on. Understood?" he said.

I shrugged. "Mmkay." He glared at me, shoving me into a small room with a treadmill in it and cuffs that immediately chained themselves to my legs. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, and 413?" he asked, referring to me by the code they've classified me with for the past four years. "Your sister is dead." he said nonchalantly, before walking out into the observation room.

"Go." came a mechanical voice. But I was frozen still. They killed her? I'm going to kill every last one of them, no matter what it takes.

"We said to go." Ellington said from the observation room, sending painful shocks up my legs and into the rest of my body. I screamed in pain before ripping them off. The news of my sister's death sending a surge of anger through me, and with it, adrenaline.

I exited the room, slamming the door shut, and grabbing the nearest gun. I walked calmly into the observation room before shooting every guard there in the heart. Then I approached Samuel.

"You killed her. She did nothing and YOU KILLED HER." I shouted, shoving him against a wall and aiming the gun straight for his head. And I shot. But then I heard the sirens blaring. I don't know what's going on, but I don't have time to finish the job. So I bolted, taking several guns with me and many knives.

I quickly exited the building, using my powers to find my way out of this twisted maze. I saw agents walking in from where I was hiding, wearing familiar uniforms. SHIELD uniforms.

" _Sapphire. Take your sister. Leave. If you ever find SHIELD again, you can trust them. Okay? Ask for a man named Phil Coulson. He'll make sure you're safe. Okay? Please. Keep yourselves safe." said Nancy Lin. The Lins were SHIELD agents that had taken my sister and me in as their own. And we were happy with them for a year before they were killed by these people._

I remember exactly what she said. She was like my mother, much better of a mother than my own had been. We were only with them for a year, but I trusted her with my life, and Skye's life too.

I'd never met Phil Coulson. I just know that I trust Nancy and Austin, and they trust him. So I'll go with it. I'm assuming he's an agent, but I don't know.

"Stop! Stop running. We're not going to hurt you." I heard a voice say, noticing me. My eyes widened and I ran even faster, trying to get away from them. I got outside, breathing in fresh air for the first time in years, and then it hit me. It was night, and the stars were out and the moon was full and round. I haven't seen the stars in four years. I haven't breahted in fresh air in four years.

And then I started to cry, because I hadn't let myself think about how hopeless my situation had been. And it's somewhat of a miracle that I managed to break out of there. Of course, this could all be a setup by them. But even if it is, I am going to savor this while I can.

I cried and cried until finally a few agents caught up to me. There was a young caucasian man who had brown hair and kind green eyes, and a young asian woman with black hair and happy brown eyes.

I got up and looked them over, my eyes turning a deep sapphire blue as I accessed their memories. The man had 3 guns. Holster at his waist, arm, and boot. The woman had 4 guns and two knives, Holsters at her waist, legs, and arms.  
"Get rid of all your weapons." I said, aiming my gun. They did so without question, except the woman kept one in her sleeve. "All weapons. Including the one in your sleeve." I said. Her eyes widened ever so slightly but nobody else would've noticed it. She did as she was told.

"I knew two agents. Nancy and Austin Lin. They told me to ask for someone named Phil Coulson if I ever ran into SHIELD again." I said.

"Well, I'm Phil Coulson." The man said. I narrowed my eyes.

"Identification." I said. He looked at me skeptically. "I know agents keep ID on them all the time. Show me." I said through gritted teeth. I'm 16 not stupid.

He brought it out and showed it to me. Indeed he is Phil Coulson. I put away the gun and looked at the woman. "Who are you?" I asked.

"Agent Melinda May." she said, analyzing me. "Why are you here?" she asked gently.

"They were experimenting on me." I told them, leaving out many details.

"So you're inhuman." Phil said. He looked to be only 4-5 years older than me. Same with Melinda.

"Maybe." I said vaguely.

"Do you have a name?" he asked.

"That's not important." I said. They glanced at each other and shrugged.

"Do you know where your parents are?" Melinda asked.

"Nancy and Austin are dead." I said bluntly.

"They aren't your parents, not unless- wait a minute. You're Sapphire? Where's your sister? Skye was it?" he asked.

"I'm Sapphire. Skye is dead. Let's just say I wish my birth parents were dead too." I muttered.

"Okay. We're going to take you back to the hub now." Melinda said. Coulson told everyone to come back out and we boarded the plane. I stared out the window and it really started to sink in.

Skye is dead. I basically raised her from when she was a newborn. I was six and my parents were about to put her through terrigenesis like they had done to me when I was a baby too. They wanted us to use our powers so they could take over. I mean, Jaiyang and Cal.

So I took her and ran before they could. They hunted us down, having so many inhumans searching for us. But I fought them all off. For five years I protected her on my own. I met a boy once. I was 10. Skye was 4. He was also 10. I called him blondie and he pretended to hate it. Even though he really didn't.

I sighed. Then came along Nancy and Austin. They found us and took us in, earning my trust. But then some inhumans had found us. They killed them because they were fighting to protect us. So we ran again. And just one month later, when I was 12, I was kidnapped when they caught me off guard and Skye- I never knew where she was. I'm going to find her though.

Even if I'm searching for a dead body. I will find her. May came and sat next to me.

"How are you doing?" she asked. I shrugged.

"Fine. I'm going to find that man and kill him." I said darkly.

"We already took him into custody." She said, giving me a concerned look.

"I know." I said.

"I know you hate him for everything that he did to you, but killing him isn't the answer." she told me.

"Oh yeah? Well he killed my innocent little sister who did absolutely nothing. She didn't even have powers yet. And they just killed her for no reason." I spat.

"Listen. I don't think your sister is dead. Think logically. They were not expecting you to escape today. So they would not get rid of their leverage against you to cooperate. I'm willing to bet that she's alive somewhere and they were going to inform you of this tomorrow. They probably wanted to stimulate the adrenaline rush you would feel in a normal scenario, especially if they were trying to replicate your powers." She said. I looked at her skeptically.

"Tell me. Are you saying that because you mean it? Or because you pity me?" I asked her.

"I mean it. I think there's a very high chance that she's still alive somewhere. Also, from what we've found, their funding was running low, so they wouldn't be keeping her inhouse. We also got traces of memory erasing serums. So it's highly possible that she's at an orphanage somewhere with no memories of you." She said. I smiled slightly and hugged her. She seemed a little surprised but went with it anyway.

"Thank you." I said. She smiled back. And then Coulson came over.

"We're about to land. Once we get in there, you're going to have to talk to two people. One of them is Agent Nick Fury. And the other is Director Peggy Carter. Nick is kind of cold hearted, but you'll love Peggy. You kind of remind me of her." He said, smiling.

"So why do I have to talk to this Fury guy if I'm already going to be talking the Director? I mean, it's a little redundant and a massive waste of time and effort to have me repeat it." I said.

"Well, don't take this the wrong way, but we need to make sure you're not suffering any brain damage and/or twisting the story at all. It's not that we think you're lying, it's just that we have to double check that you're not." he said.

I nodded. "Okay. I get it." I said. He sighed.

"Oh good. Most people take high offense to that." he said.

"Eh. I basically raised myself and my sister from when I was six. I don't trust people easily either. In fact, the only reason I trust you guys is because I trusted Austin and Nancy. And they trust you." I said nonchalantly, looking out the window.

I saw them share a look out of the corner of my eye.

"They're not dead. They stopped working for SHIELD because they were too badly hurt to keep working, but they're alive. We can take you to see them one of these days if you want." May said.

"They're not? But- I saw them die." I said quietly, looking at them. But as I entered their memories, I saw that they were indeed alive.

"Why did your eyes just turn blue?" Coulson asked.

I shrugged. "I don't trust you guys _that_ much." I said. They shared another look.

"Okay. Well, Director Carter and Agent Fury are going to ask about that. And they're not going to take that for an answer. But you can trust them." May told me.

"I don't care if they want answers. They're only going to get the ones I want to give and nothing more." I said.

"Alright. Just don't underestimate them." Coulson advised.

"I think you guys are underestimating me." I said. And then the plane landed. We got off and I quickly analyzed every detail of the Hub, trying to get a visual of where everything is.

"Well, let's go get you cleaned up and all that, and you can talk to them after lunch." May said. I shrugged and nodded. I also realized that I'm taller than her. Four years younger, much skinnier, but about five inches taller. I wish I could shrink though, I don't like to be noticed, I prefer to stay in the shadows. Where I know everyone but nobody knows me. I haven't looked at myself in a while. Four years actually. I barely remember what I look like.

I know I have long brown hair and dark brown eyes. Well, most of the time. My eyes change to a dark sapphire blue when I'm using my powers. I'm going to have to get my hands on some color contacts so you can't notice it.

"Here. These should fit you. It might be a little loose, but once you eat some more and get healthier, this size should fit you fine. There are showers in there." May told me. I nodded and went in there. I looked at myself in the mirror.

I guess I would consider myself pretty. I mean, if I wasn't pale and ghostly looking. MY skin is naturally medium toned, but right now it looks very light. And I'm skinny. Too skinny.

Basically I have zero fat on my body, instead just tightly packed muscles everywhere. Any food they gave me served two purposes. Firstly to keep me alive, and the second was to make sure I had energy for their 'experiments'. I got in the shower and then changed.

It was supposed to be a tight fitting exercise shirt with the SHIELD logo on the back. But on me it hung loose. She had also given me a pair of tight yoga pants. These fit pretty well. At least they stayed on my waist. Before, I had been wearing the same pair of pants for the past four years. They were basically capris at this point. I distastefully threw those away, along with the t-shirt I had been wearing there as well.

She had given me a bra. About my size. Which is good, because I don't think I know what bra size I am anyway. I never exactly got the chance to find out. So I changed and walked out, where May was sitting there doing some paperwork. SHe looked up at me.

"Okay. That was fast." she commented. I shrugged. I've never taken long showers. Ever. Never been able to. "So what do you want to eat? I'll take you to the cafeteria and you can pick from there." she said, and we started walking.

After a moment's silence I looked at her. "So what's going to happen to me after this? I can't stay here forever." I said. She looked at me.

"Well, you have a few options. We can send you to an SHIELD orphanage, which a place for kids in danger like you. Or can you stay and train to become an agent. That's what the Director is hoping for. I already submitted my report and she says that you'd make a very good agent." she told me.

"I think I might just take you guys up on that offer." I said, thinking about it. Becoming an agent would give me better access to finding Skye. More freedom.

"Well that was an easy decision." she said. I didn't respond. I'm not going to reveal my true motives. Not yet.

"Okay. So we have sandwiches. Turkey, Ham, Veggie. We also have Salads and pasta." she told me.

"Whatever you like better. I'm not picky. More often than not I've lived off of bread and fruit." I told her.

"Okay. Well, I like the Veggie sandwich. Sound good to you?" she asked. I nodded.

"Sounds good." I said. She smiled and got me one and one for herself. We were eating mostly in silence before she looked at me curiously.

"So. How old are you?" she asked.

"16." I said.

"Oh. So yeah, you could begin training for SHIELD right now if you wanted to." she told me. "Legal age is 16."

I tilted my head. "So. How does that work exactly?" I asked. She looked at me.

"Well, you'll have a partner. That partner is most likely who you'll end up being paired with for the rest of your career, unless you request a change. You and your partner will be paired based on skill. We're going to have a skills test for everyone one week from today for all the new recruits. After talking to the director, I can explain everything else." she said. We went downstairs into what I'm guessing is Agent Fury's office.

"Okay. I think Agent Coulson will probably end up taking you down to the Director's office when you're done here. I'll see you later." she said. I smiled.

"Okay. Bye." I replied. Then I looked at this guy. Nick Fury. I accessed his memories, making sure to keep my eyes blue for the remainder of the time that we'll be talking. He looked to be maybe in his early 30s.  
"I need you to tell me everything they did to you there." he said simply, cutting straight to the chase.

"Their motive was to replicate the inhuman gene and to figure out how it works. So they experimented on me. In multiple different ways. I have two powers. Super speed and super healing. That's very rare amongst inhumans in general." I said. He nodded. "So they would do things like intentionally injure me in various different ways, recording how long it took me to heal. And then, with that, they would also put me on treadmills often as well. They would try to simulate adrenaline rushes that I would feel if actually in a life endangering situation. But instead of just injecting me with it, they would electrocute me to get my natural adrenaline going." I said.

"And they were doing that for four years." he said.

"Yeah. THey would vary it sometimes. Like instead of stabbing my arm they would try my leg and see if the healing rate slowed or anything." I said nonchalantly.

"How much were you fed?" he asked.

"Once a week, if that. And it was mostly protein drinks. Just enough to keep me alive and give me energy for their experiments." I said bitterly.

"And you have a little sister?"

"Dead." I said coldly. I don't trust this guy that much. And I get the feeling that if he knows my true motives for joining SHIELD, he'll make sure that I don't get any opportunities to search.

"Alright. You're 16?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Do you know any of their names?"

"Yes. Samuel Ellington. Skinny, pale, gross, stringy black hair. Bad breath. That guy. HE was the head of operations. Evan Marcus was the head scientist. Davian Elmers was the head of security. Those are the names I know." I said.

"Okay. Now explain to me why your eyes are blue when both reports from Agent Coulson and Agent May state that your eyes are brown." he said, giving me a hard stare.

"My eyes change color to blue when I'm nervous. It's part of the whole inhuman thing." I lied easily. These people know next to nothing about inhumans, so it's not hard to make up random stuff.

"Okay then." he said. "You can go now." he said. I shrugged and left his office. Not bothering to wait for anyone to find me.

I know this Hub inside and out now. I accessed Fury's memories, and bam. Every place in this building has now been revealed to me.

I walked over to the Director's office and the door was open. So I walked in and sat. The lady behind the desk was in her late 70s, but she didn't look old at all. Her hair only had slight grays, she wasn't wrinkly, and her eyes were sharp and piercing. Overall though, she looked very kind. She looked like I could trust her. But looks can be deceiving.

"Hello. I'm Peggy." she said.

"Hi." I said.

"What's your name?" she asked. I shrugged and she raised an eyebrow. "Do you not have one?"

"I have one. I just prefer not to share it." I said. She tilted her head.

"But Agent May and Agent Coulson know it?" she asked. "Who else?"

"Nancy and Austin Lin. But they won't tell you." I said. She looked at me skeptically.

"You're one of the girls they took in. Where's the other?"

"Dead." I said coldly. Her eyes softened a little.

"I'm sorry for your loss." she said, and it sounded very genuine. I was slightly surprised at this. Looking into her memories, I saw exactly why.

"You lost somebody too." I said.

She smiled slightly. "Very perceptive. But yes, I did. He died a soldier. He fought until the end. You may have heard of him actually? Captain America? Agent Coulson is slightly obsessed with him." she said, smiling.

"I've heard of him. I didn't know that SHIELD existed back then." I said.

"It didn't. I founded it a little after he died. And it was originally the SSR. But enough about me. How about you? I'm not going to ask you to repeat everything you already told Agent Fury. Just things about the future. I'm assuming Agent May told you about your options?" she said.

I nodded. "Yeah. I want to train to become an agent." I told her. She smiled.

"I was hoping you'd say that. You're smart. Smarter than most senior agents that work here. I see great potential in you." She said. I smiled back. "Well, Agent May is waiting for you outside. She'll show you where you're sleeping and all that."

"Okay." I said, getting up. I was about to shut the door behind me when she spoke up again.

"Oh, Sapphire? We'll find your sister. I promise. And if anyone asks, you have a top secret identity. I say that people should call you Agent X." she said. I glanced back at her and left.

I'm surprised she knew that much about me. I know that May and Coulson didn't tell her. So how she knew is beyond me.

I shrugged it off and May was there. She looked like she was deep in thought but when I approached her she looked at me and gestured for me to follow her.

"Here are the recruits' bunks. Next to you is James Smith. He came from similar circumstances as you. Living on the streets. Other side is where the elevator is." she said. Just then this James person walked out of his bunk.

My eyes widened, as did his. We know each other. We know each other well.

"Blondie?" I asked. He raised his eyebrows.

"Blue? What happened to you? Also, you're still going to call me that?" he asked.

"You two know each other?" May asked. We looked at her.

"Well, yeah." I said. She smiled slightly and shook her head.

"Teenagers." she muttered. "Well I'm going to finish some work. You two have until 9 to catch up. It's 3 right now. Also, you'll find clothes in the closet." she said before turning and leaving.

I smiled. "Okay, thanks." I said. Then I looked at James. He's grown over the past 6 years, but despite that, his light blue eyes and honey blonde hair are still the same.

"So. Where's Skye?" He asked curiously.

I pulled him into some random closet and scanned the room for cameras. I'm not going to tell him when there are other people there to witness.

"She's missing. I have to fill you in on a lot. So basically, Nancy and Austin made us run because there were more inhumans looking for us. So we ran and a month later I was kidnapped and they didn't tell me what happened to her. I only got out of there today, and I had thought she was dead because early in the morning, like 2 ish, they told me she was dead. And now I found out she's alive. So I'm going to train in the agency, work for this agency, simply because it'll help me find her. I have no intention of aiding these people if it hinders my search. I mean, I like May and Coulson, and the director is pretty cool too, but I have to find Skye first." I told him in a hushed tone.

"Okay. Well, while we're here, I might as well fill you in. So basically, after you disappeared, I took Natalie to the orphanage. I dropped her off there because she was just a baby and there were people after me for god knows what reason and I couldn't have her getting hurt. So after that, I was kind of depressed and didn't really try to stay alive. And the years passed and it turns out Natalie had run away from the orphanage before I snuck in to see her, and then SHIELD happened to catch me stealing from one of their safe boxes. And here I am." he said.

Natalie was his little sister. She was three, so she'd be 9 now. Only a year younger than Skye. They loved playing together. They really did. And then I got kidnapped and that all went down the drain.

"Do you know where she is?" I asked him. He looked down.

"She died. I saw her body. So I buried her and moved on. She looked like she had starved to death." he said quietly.

"James, I- I'm so sorry." I said. And it was genuine, because I know what that pain feels like. I know it better than most.

"It's fine. I just wish I got to say goodbye first." he said. My eyes starting tearing up a little. I wish that with every breath I take, that I at least got to say goodbye to Skye, maybe apologize for giving her such a crappy life. I sighed.

"Well, we should probably get out of here." He said tiredly.

"Yeah." I replied. And so we did. We exited the room and walked down the corridor.

"So I assume you're not planning on telling anyone here your real name?" he asked.

"Nope. For some reason the director knows, but nobody told her. So she told me that everyone will call me 'agent X' from now on. But I suppose you don't have to." I said, musing.

"You never did tell me what your birth name was." He said.

"Lily. Lily Johnson. But I despise that name with every fiber of my being. Call me by it and I will stab you." I threatened. And this guy has the nerve to laugh.

"I know. Believe me, I won't." He said, smiling.

"Glad we're on the same page Blondie." I said. He grinned.

"Yup. Question. Did I never tell you my last name?" he asked me.

"Nope. But I know it now." I said, smirking.

"Well duh. So. You're going to train to be an agent here?"

"Of course. I love living a life of danger." I said, plastering on a fake smile. He laughed a little.

"Oh yeah. Hopefully we end up as partners. I feel like we would crush the competition." he said.

"Oh you know we would." I replied.

"So Blue? How are you going to explain the whole blue eyes thing?" He asked. Man. Even after six years this kid can see right through me.

"Color contacts. Brown color contacts." I said, smirking.

"And how do you plan on getting those?" He asked, a grin on his face as he clearly knew the answer.

"Oh, I don't know. I mean, you used to be really good at stealing but maybe you've lost your touch." I said, challenging him.

"Please. If anything, I've gotten better." He said, smirking.

"Prove it." I told him, smirking back.

"You're on."

(LATER)

One successful mission later I have on a pair of dark brown color contacts. He smirked at me.

"So did I prove it?" He asked.

"Yes. Yes you did." I said, smiling. "Now. What to do?" I asked.

"I don't know. We could go down to the gym and spar? But then again. Maybe _you've_ lost your touch." he challenged.

"Ha! As if." I said. "Let's go. And I'll show you just how much better I've gotten."

"I'll have you know that I've improved too." he said indignantly.

"That's nice Blondie. But with that nickname it's hard to take you seriously." I said, grinning.

"Why that nickname?" He asked, exasperated. "It could've been anything, but nooooo. You chose the most embarrassing one."

I smirked. "Yup."

He rolled his eyes. "Let's just soar. Look, the gym is right down the hall." He said.

I smiled. "Cool beans." I said.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Cool beans?"

"Just go with it." I said. He shrugged.

"Okay." He said.

I smirked and we went to the gym to spar. When I got in there my jaw dropped. It's brilliant.

It's huge, bigger than Bay Area I've ever seen. There are punching bags, sparring mats, weapons of all sorts. It's beautiful.

He smirked. "I knew you would love it." He said.

"I do. I really do." I said, touching my hand to my heart lightly.

"Well? You wanna spar or what?" He asked. And then we raced towards the mat and began to spar.

We were fighting for a few hours nonstop, as we were too equally matched, when May came in and interrupted us.

We looked at her, both of us sweaty and tired. "You two are insane. I wasn't even this obsessed." She told us. "Anyway. You guys should eat some dinner. I'm not going to remind you from here on out, I just think that you two need some nutrition. I'm also going to recommend you two to be partners." She said, smiling.

And then she walked out. "And you guys might want to shower." She added, not turning around. We grinned at each other.

"Thanks May!" He called out. She didn't respond, but I think I saw her smile as she left.

We went to shower and then we met up again to head over to dinner.

I think I'm going to like it here. Even though it'll be short. I'm finding Skye and I'm not resting until I do.


	2. Ageless

**Hi everyone! I'm so sorry for the wait. I was going through some major writer's block with this story. It's going ot be a while before we get into the main plot because so much has to be introduced. But anyway, here's the new chapter. I'm sooooo excited. This one is going to be more angsty than the last one. Also, I will put the year that the chapter occurs in underneath the disclaimer because some chapters are just going to fast forward to some important moments. We're not going to be doing this on a day by day basis like the Romance of Jadason series is. Enjoy! :)**

 **Disclaimer: I own my OCs and nothing else.**

 **1999**

We had eaten dinner a while ago, and now comes the hard part. Sleeping. I haven't slept properly or on a regular schedule for months, if not years. And I don't know how the nightmares are going to be.

Last time I tried sleeping I ended up breaking something. It didn't end well. I sighed and got into my bunk, shutting the door. I changed into some pajamas that were there.

Then I got into the bed and shut my eyes, and I'm really hoping that I would be fine. But of course, as per usual, I know that I won't be.

And then I let the nightmares take me.

(JAMES POV)

I never thought that I would ever see her again. Ever. I was a thief and she was a fighter. That's just how it is. So us meeting again at a government agency seems a little crazy.

I sighed. Something is off about her. But maybe I'm just being paranoid. It has been six years. Not to mention all the crazy things that have happened since then. I remember meeting her.

 _I stood in front of a young girl, about my age, standing in front of a younger girl maybe Natalie's age. There was something in her eyes, that were a brilliant sapphire blue color, that made me wary of her, but I could also see kindness in them. She kept glancing at Natalie then back at me._

I closed my eyes, trying to fall asleep, even though I couldn't. I just wasn't tired. I got up, turned on my light and grabbed a book. I've never been one for reading, but Coulson told me that this was one of his favorites, and that I would love it. So I took it and began to read.

Surprisingly enough, I'm a decent reader. I had run away from home when I was eight, taking my one year old sister with me. Then a year later I met Sapphire, and we just teamed up. It was always us and our sisters against the world. It's been six long years since she disappeared, and I'll admit, I felt bitter for a little while. But then I came across the house where I knew she had lived before, Nancy and Austin's house. It was completely destroyed, bullet holes through many of the walls, blood across the floor and walls, and the roof had caved in on itself. I assumed the worst for all four of the people that had lived in that house, leaving.

And that's when things went south for me. I realized that everyone good in my life had died. Natalie, Sapphire, Skye. All of them were gone. But then, two years ago, Coulson and May found me and brought me to the SHIELD orphanage. It was a lot better than the orphanage I had left Natalie at, and I still regret it.

I just thought that they could give her a better life than I could. Especially after Sapphire disappeared. We relied on each other. I provided food and money for us four, she provided shelter, drinkable water, and she went to the stores and bought stuff. So after she left we were constantly on the move.

I looked down. I totally forgot about my book. I sighed and shut it. Maybe another time. I'm not in the mood for reading.

I got back in bed and laid there for a while before I heard a loud crash and then a scream from right next to me. And I would know those screams anywhere.

I knocked on the wall, knowing that she'll hear me loud and clear.

"Blue? Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah. I'm okay." She replied, although her voice was shaking.

"What happened?" I asked, sitting down against the connecting wall. I could hear her do the same, until we were back to back with a wall in between us.

"Nightmares." She said simply. "Did I wake you up?" She asked.

"Nah. I was already awake. I couldn't sleep." I said.

I could hear her sigh. They need to get thicker walls.

"Oh. Why not?" she asked.

"I don't know. I wasn't tired." I said, shrugging.

"Huh. Alright. I'm not planning on going back to sleep any time soon." she said.

"Me neither. I'm wide awake. This is the most happy I've been in a while." I replied.

"I think Skye is going to despise me once I find her. I mean, I left her to whatever terrible fate she's suffering through now. I should be out there now. Looking for her." she said quietly, leaning her head back against the wall with a light thud.

"I don't know. If she remembers everything from before, she'll understand. I'm sure of it." I said.

"But what if she doesn't remember?" she asked.

"Well then, you're just going to have to convince her." I said.

"But what if I can't?"

"I don't know. Don't think about the what-ifs. They'll drive you insane." I told her.

"You're right. I shouldn't be worrying so much." she said, sighing.

We sat there in comfortable silence, and it brings back so many memories. We used to do this, except be actually sitting back to back, with nothing in between. We would keep watch over our sisters, watching them carefully, making sure that no dangers arose.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked her.

"I'll be fine."

"But you're not fine now." I pointed out.

"I don't know what's wrong with me." she said. I know she's lying. She's an excellent liar, but I see right through her. But I won't push. Not now anyway.

"James?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever wondered what would've happened if our parents weren't psychotic?" she asked. "I think it would've been pretty great, except you know, we wouldn't know each other."

"I've thought about it. But I also think we would be totally different people without our experiences. You wouldn't be so good at fighting, I wouldn't be so good at stealing, we wouldn't know how to take care of ourselves or make decisions." I told her.

"Yeah. But Skye and Natalie would still be safe. I could care less about my own safety." she said.

"But we don't know that. How do we know that something crazy wouldn't have happened?" I mused. "Totally random question. Do you believe in destiny?"

"Yes." she said. "But it's cruel. Fate is disgusting and twisted and is only out to get us. It's prejudiced, and even more than that, it's terrifying. There is no way to predict your fate."

"It's not all bad. I mean, we both could have ended up dead." I mentioned.

"No. Just watch. You'll think everything is great, and then your freaking destiny will be to end up miserable and broken." she said darkly.

"Blue, what happened to you? When did you get so negative?" I asked her.

"I'm not negative, I'm realistic. There's a difference. And if you want to know when that happened, it was about a year ago." she replied.

"But realistically, think about it. Destiny is twisted. But it's not out to get us." I argued.

"Whatever you say James. You're usually the smart one." she said.

"Yeah. Usually. Recently I haven't been acting like it." I muttered.

"Don't blame yourself for what happened with Natalie. You did what you thought was best. And now, well you can't go back from here." she said, once again looking straight through me.

"Believe me, I know." I muttered again.

"James, do you remember when Skye chose her name?" she asked me.

"Yeah. I never knew why."

"She had asked me why we don't have parents like other kids do. I told her that our parents were very mean and she replied asking me if that's why I changed my name. I told her that it was and she said that she wanted to do that too. So she looked around and it was sunset. She noted that the sky was very pretty. And then she decided that's what she wanted to be called Skye." she said.

"Okay. Your point?"

"Let me finish Blondie. My point is that you get to choose your battles. She chose not to dwell on her past, not to keep asking questions, instead she just moved on. And I know, it's difficult to do that. But you have a choice. You can live your life like she would've wanted you to or continue to dwell on her unfortunate death." she told me.

"I'm not just going to forget about her." I said.

"I'm not saying that. I'm saying to cherish the good memories you had with her instead of blaming yourself." she replied.

"Yeah. I guess so." I replied. I could sit here thinking all night about how much I miss her. You never really appreciate the people in your life until they're gone.

"Blue? Can I ask you something?"

"Go for it."

"Have you ever felt this weird feeling that something bad is coming? Like this bad vibe. But most of the time I ignore it, and nothing usually happens." I said.

"I feel like that constantly. Don't worry. It's usually nothing. But sometimes it does mean something. And that something… Well, it usually isn't good." she replied.

"Yeah. Okay. Well, I'm going to sleep now. You probably should too. The guy on the other side of me will come yell at us if we're up too late. I'm surprised he hasn't banged on my door yet." I said.

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow." she said. "Good night."

"Night." I said. Then I moved away from the wall, turned off my lights, and went to sleep.

(SAPPHIRE POV. MORNING)

I didn't end up going back to sleep last night. Instead I laid in bed, staring at the ceiling and wishing I could see the sky. It's my way of remembering her. Not just because of her name, but she always loved looking at the sky and clouds. I remember her temporarily blinding herself when she stared at the sun for too long.

I smiled slightly. James looked at me. "So. You need to have the grand tour." he said.

I grinned. "I know this place inside out already."

"Well I'm going to give you the grand tour anyway. Deal with it." he said stubbornly.

"Okay okay. Chill. Nobody said you _couldn't_ give me the tour." I told him.

He rolled his eyes. "Coulson and May are coming along." He said. I smiled.

"Sounds fun." I said.

"Okay. Let's go." he replied, seeing as we were both done eating. We got up and walked out to the center of the hub, where there were agents everywhere.

Melinda and Phil were waiting there, but Mel looked irritated.

"You're late." she said. I smirked.

"It was only by 3.54 seconds. Chill." I told her. She looked at me skeptically.

"No way. You just made that up." she said.

"Nope. It's fact." I said. She rolled her eyes.

"Sure. Whatever. Cmon." she said.

"She's having a bad day. She got beat in a fight." Phil told me.

"By who?" James asked.

"Some rookie." he replied.

May shot a look at him. "It was a senior level agent. Not some rookie. I wonder how Fury would react if I told him you'd called him some rookie." she said.

"Uh no. I'd rather not have my former SO kill me."

"He was your SO?" I asked. He nodded.

"You two, seeing as you'll be paired up, will have an SO as well. I don't know who though." he said, thinking.

"I'm willing to bet it'll be Romanoff." May told us.

"What? Who's she?" James asked.

"Black widow." she responded. He gaped.

"What's so special about her?" I asked.

"She's been alive for 80 years or something like that. Literally a living legend." James told me.

I didn't ask how that was possible, because my mom has been alive for that long. Maybe longer.

"Yeah. She hasn't had any rookies yet, but I think it's because she has no patience. I think she'll like you two though." Phil said.

"Well then. She sounds nice. I'm bored. You guys want to spar instead?" James said. I nudged him.

"Is your ADHD acting up again?" I asked him. He looked at me in mock offense.

"No! I'm legitimately bored. Jeez. I mean, maybe a little. I can't walk around these boring hallways for hours on end!" he said.

"You're the one who wanted to do this." I reminded him. He rolled his eyes.

"I hate it when you're right." he muttered. I smiled.

"Guys? Do you want to spar?" I asked them. They smirked.

"Oh you're on. Let's do it this way, girls versus guys. And then afterwards we can go rookies versus us." May said.

"Let's do it." Phil agreed. We all were smirking confidently.

Then we went down the sparring mats and sparred as though our lives depended on it.

Others had gathered a crowd around us. May and Coulson were almost as equally matched as James and I.

"Hey Blondie! Is that all you've got?" I taunted. He smirked then flipped me on to my back. I jumped up and landed a kick square in his stomach and kicked my leg under him. He jumped right in time, then aimed a punch at my jaw.

He landed it at the same time that I had kicked his legs out and we both fell at the same time. I had a bruise on my jaw that'll go away in an hour and he had one on his arm that will probably be sore tomorrow. May and Coulson had been watching us, along with a red headed woman who was staring us down intimidatingly.

"I'll train them." she said simply.

"Who are you exactly?" I asked.

"Natasha Romanoff." she said shortly.

I rolled my eyes. "Well you're nice." I muttered.

"Don't take it personally. I just won't take your crap. Think of it as preparation for the years to come." she said, turning and leaving.

"Well she was pleasant." James said, rolling his eyes.

"She'll warm up to you. She has a principle against teenagers in general. Nobody really knows why. She's decent around other people, a little cold maybe, but it's kids that irk her to the max." Melinda said nonchalantly.

"Whatever. Anyway, we should probably clean up." I said.

"We have a mission to go on in an hour, so we probably won't see you guys for a few days. So good luck with Romanoff." Phil said.

"Thanks. Well, bye." James said we said our goodbyes and went to shower.

I grabbed some clothes and headed into the showers, then lifted up my shirt.

I traced a long scar there, at my stomach. I remember it way too clearly, considering I was newborn when it was formed.

My parents had decided it was time to put me through terrigenesis, you know, a month after birth. They had left me in the room with the terrigenesis gas.

But it was too early. Some of the rock forming around me had scratched my stomach, and I almost died from that. Oh how much simpler my life would be if it had ended there.

I wouldn't be here. As much as I'm putting up an okay front, I'm actually not okay. Every time somebody says something that reminds me of the past, I get thrown into flashbacks.

Looking at the sky in general has two effects on me. On one hand it makes me feel free, while on the other it reminds me of Skye.

Even James reminds me of her. He hasn't changed much. Just gotten taller, more built. But his face is still much the same.

Things like handcuffs bother me.

My eyes bother me. They look like Skye's.

I can't. The smell of apples brings back so many memories, and of course the shampoo they had provided was cinnamon apple. Apples were Skye's favorite, if we could find them.

I sighed and blocked those thoughts away.

I took my shower and exited. Then I went off to nowhere in particular. I need air.

(ONE WEEK LATER)

Well, training is starting. This should be fun. We get ms. I hate everything as our SO. Joy.

"Alright. First things first. Show me what you've got. Attack me." she said. "Both of you."

And that we did, except we times it perfectly. She was good though. Really good.

She dodged all our moves, as fast as we tried to go. She managed to land a few punches and kicks on us despite our defense. She has both of us pinned down with training guns at our throat within an hour.

"I'm impressed." she said, although her voice held no emotion.

"Whatever. Let's go again." I said. She smirked.

"That's enough for today. I'm going to show you some individual maneuvers." she said.

I rolled my eyes and scrolled through her memories, saving the useful ones and sending them to James as well.

Some of her memories, well they're not pretty. She knew captain America. The same guy Director Carter had fallen in love with all those years ago.

She knew him, but she had been fighting against him as a brainwashed soldier from the redroom. And apparently he broke her brainwashing. And then he died. Fun.

"Pay attention." she said. Then she demonstrated a move quickly. We copied it exactly and then she made us do it 100 times.

I was terribly sore afterwards. She then made us do target practice.

After we were done it was dark out and we were both exhausted. She on the other hand had barely broken a sweat.

I looked at her. "Are you incapable of aging?" I asked her.

She narrowed her eyes at me but didn't respond.

"Well?" I asked.

"I'm not immortal, no." she said.

"That's not what I asked."

"Well that's how I answered. Deal with it." she replied.

"Why won't you answer the question? It's not that difficult." I said.

"Fine. I age very slowly. But I do age. Right now I'm 18, have been for a while now. So two years older than you. But really, I'm 80 something. I don't keep count." she said.

"Why didn't you want to tell me?" I asked.

"Stop asking questions." she said.

"Why?"

"And this is why I hate children." she muttered.

"Whatever. You're just upset because you had a terrible childhood." I muttered, about to leave. I know that'll get her to talk.

"I don't care how you found about about that. But if you tell anybody, I will kill you." she said.

"I'm not afraid of death."

"Everyone's afraid of something. It's just a matter of finding out what it is."

"You won't figure it out." I said. My only fear in the world is losing Skye. And I doubt she would exploit that fear anyway. Besides, I have no reason to tell anyone what I know.

"I think I will, Lily Johnson." she said. I froze.

"I _hate_ that name." I said darkly. "And how did you even know that?" I asked.

She gestured for me to follow her, so I did. We came into a large room with high tech stuff surrounding it.

"Here's you. And your sister." she said, pointing to a screen. My eyes widened. There were pictures of us. She was six in hers and mine was only taken recently, probably within the last couple of days.

I haven't seen her since she was six. I could feel the tears threatening to spill but I blinked them away. This is not the time to get emotionally involved.

I read through it. There were things like all of my powers, descriptions of us, other things too. Like our family.

I glanced at her. "I have access to all of SHIELD's files." she said.

"Who else?" I asked. She shrugged.

"Fury and Carter." she said.

"That's it?" I asked. She nodded. Then I read into more detail. My sister was last seen at st. Agnes orphanage in New York. My eyes widened.

She shook her head. "Don't even think about it. If she was there, she's not there anymore." she said coldly.

"How do you know?" I asked her, narrowing my eyes.

"That's confidential. I've already showed you too much. I just want you to know. If you're going to stay here, your sister has to come second to the lives of the innocent. If you can't get your priorities straight, then maybe you shouldn't be here." she said, glaring at me.

"I don't know what you have against me, but I didn't do anything to you." I told her.

"You didn't. Your mother did" she said bitterly.

I looked back into her memories and found something interesting.

"That was my mom. Not me." I said, irritated.

"That's nice. Do I look like I care?" she said nonchalantly. "You have to get to your bunk." she told me.

I shrugged and left. "Also, Sapphire? Don't tell anyone I showed you this. Not even James." she said.

"Fine." I said curtly, shutting the door behind me.

I thought about this. She does care. She showed me that when she didn't have to. Her history is dark and really twisted, and what my mom did to her was terrible, but it wasn't me. I think maybe once she figures that out, she might end up actually nice.

So I walked into my bunk and sat down tiredly. James knocked on the wall.

"Where were you?" he asked.

"Natasha had to talk to me. She knows about my sister." I said, telling him only the partial truth.

"Oh. What about?"

"She told me that I need to get my priorities straight and that if I'm only here to find my sister then I shouldn't be here at all." I told him, once again, only partially correct. He would see right through me if I lied, so I won't lie.

"Wow. Okay then. My muscles are all aching." he said, and I could hear him flopping back in his bed. "And these beds are too soft. I can't sleep like this." he said. I get what he means.

We grew up sleeping on concrete and dirt, not mattresses. So for us, having a mattress isn't working out.

"I've been sleeping on the floor the nights I do sleep." I said.

"Same here. The bed just doesn't work." he replied.

"I know. You would think it would though." I muttered. "I'm so tired. I honestly think I got more sleep before coming than after."

"Not for me. Well, after you got here, I got more sleep." he said quietly.

"Yeah." I said. "Well, good night." I said.

"Night." he replied. And then we both turned off the lights and went to sleep.


	3. Feelings

**Hi guys! I'm so sorry for the wait! I've been having writer's block with this story, as not much important stuff happens at this time, so I'm having a bit of trouble filling the gaps. Also, if you're caught up with my other stories, you're going to see some new people who's last name will sound very familiar. ;) This chapter takes place a year later, and like I said, this story takes place over 30+ years, so I'm going to skip a lot, but still include the major highlights. Enjoy! :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the MCU. Duh.**

 **2000**

(SAPPHIRE POV)

I glanced at myself in the mirror. I've changed so much since last year. I haven't gotten any taller, thank god. But I've gotten more muscular, I'm not a twig anymore.

I look actually healthy. I can also take down Natasha in a fight if James and I team up. That's huge.

I pulled my hair back into a high ponytail. It's long and brown, slightly curly. I walked out and somehow, James walked out at the same time. I smiled at him and we walked out. We're having our final test today.

I walked up to Natasha and she smirked slightly. "You two are probably the best agents I've ever trained. But don't get cocky about it." she said. "You're going to be late." she told us, gesturing towards all of the others.

"Thanks Natasha." I said, smiling. She smiled back, if only for a millisecond, before shooing us away. She's changed a lot since the first time I met her. She cares, in her own special way.

We quickly took our test and walked out. It was short and quick, and it was fairly easy. I walked out and they told us to sit and wait for an hour before they would reveal the rankings and scores.

"James?" I asked him as we sat down. He looked at me. I was about to continue before somebody came up to us. One of the other agent-in-training people.

She looked in between us calculatingly. "Are you two dating?" she asked. We looked at each other, shocked, and we were both blushing against our will.

"No." we said. We weren't blushing because we liked each other. Nope. Nada. Not happening. I don't know about him, but I'm blushing because it's awkward. NOT because I like him. Pssh. That's ridiculous.

"Why would you ask that?" James asked her.

"I don't know. Firstly, I think you two would be cute together. Secondly, everyone here thinks you'd be cute too. Thirdly, you guys spend every breathing moment together." she said, before leaving. We looked at each other.

"Well that's awkward." I muttered. He laughed nervously.

"Yeah. Why would you just go up to some random people and ask if they're dating?" he asked, although he was clearly flustered.

"Awww James. You're blushing." I teased him. He rolled his eyes.

"This is an awkward situation. Also, I don't know if you've noticed, but I have zero clue what to do in awkward situations." he pointed out.

"Because you are awkward." I told him. He stuck his tongue out at me.

"I'm not awkward." he said. I smiled.

"It's okay if you're awkward. I love you anyway." I said. Wait what? That just slipped out. I didn't mean that, did I? Nope. I DID NOT. I am not in love with James Smith.

He was looking at me with an odd look on his face. I was probably giving him the same look. We're both seventeen and have never liked anybody, never kissed anybody, or anything even close to that. The closest we've come to in terms of romantic contact with anybody is hugs. And even that was just between ourselves.

I don't even understand what has been happening. When I first got here it was normal, nothing different. We were just best friends, and that was it. And then a few months ago, I started getting this weird feeling when I'm around him. Like, really strange.

It's like, butterflies in my stomach or something. Is that what liking someone is? Also, if somebody had asked me before if I loved James, I would've said of course, because he's my best friend.

But now, I'm not sure if that's all. I mean, yeah, he's still my best friend, but things have changed between us. There's this tension there that I don't entirely understand.

And that's a first. I've never had parents to show me what love is, nor have I ever really felt it before. I don't have girlfriends. I mean, I have May, but she believes that guys are a waste of time in general, so I don't know what she would be able to tell me. I could ask the director, she like a maternal figure to me almost, but I also think that might bring to surface some painful memories for her, and I don't want to do that.

"Blue!" he said, waving his hand in front of my face. I snapped out of it.

"What?" I asked. He pointed at the screen.

"They're announcing ratings now." he said. I grinned.

"For the first time in SHIELD history, we have a tie for the top spot of the rankings." Peggy said. "With a full score of 500, Agent Smith and Agent X are in the top place." she said. We smirked at each other.

"Nice." we said in unison. She went on to list the rest of the rankings but I couldn't care less.

We're in the lead, and really, that's all that matters.

"James?" I asked. He looked at me curiously.

"Yeah? What were you going to ask earlier?" he asked.

"Eh. That's not important. What is important is this. What exactly are we going to do if we get split up?" I asked him. His eyes widened.

"I hadn't thought about that." he murmured.

"Me neither. Hopefully we won't, but if we do, well, we'll call everyday." I said.

"Yeah. I guess so. Besides, we're partners in crime. They can't split us up." he said.

"Partners in crime? You know this organization fights against crime, right?" I asked.

"Too bad. Partners in fighting crime doesn't sound as cool." he said. I smiled.

"Yeah. It really doesn't. Can you believe you're 17?" I asked.

He sighed. "Not really. But tomorrow is your birthday."

"I know. I don't care though. It's just another day." I said, shrugging. He grinned.

"Too bad they don't allow cake." He said, and I know he's planning something.

"No. Whatever you're thinking, no." I said. He laughed.

"I'm thinking about stealing in a piece. Or two." He said, smirking. I gave him a look. "What? It'll be fun." He defended.

"Okay. But if you get caught the day after we get to become officially agents I will not forgive you." I said.

"I don't get caught." He said, giving me a confident smirk. For some reason that smirk does things to me. I don't even know anymore.

I stared into his blue eyes. His eyes are a light blue, but they're a little grayish. He raised his eyebrows at me.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" He asked. I snapped out of it.

"What?" I asked. He looked at me concerned.

"Are you okay? You've been zoning out a lot today." He asked.

"I'm fine. Just tired." I said. He shrugged.

(NEXT DAY)

"So, I've got your new assignments." Phil told us, handing us each an file. We looked at them.

"Who are Adrian and Mariana Ramirez?" James asked him.

"Agents, married, they're going to be your teammates." He said.

"So we get a plane to ourselves?" I asked. He nodded and James and I grinned.

"You guys need to calm down. This isn't that great. You know what would be great? A giant plane. Custom too. I would love to have one of those." He said wistfully. See, this is the Phil Coulson we know.

"Okay. I'm sure it'll happen eventually. But back to serious business." I said, smirking. He rolled his eyes.

"No. Melinda and I are not dating." He said, already knowing what were were going to bother him about.

"Oh you guys are so compatible though." James said.

"I know. And why can't you guys date?" I asked him. He groaned and ran a hand over his face.

"I have a girlfriend and she has a boyfriend." He said. Our jaws dropped.

"WHAT?! You never told us?" James asked.

"We try to keep it secret. But you two are so nosy." He said.

I crossed my arms. "Wow. Okay." I said. "So you two are both in relationships and never told us." I said, shaking my head.

"You could've found out yourselves." He pointed out.

"We're not that nosy." James said.

Phil raised his eyebrows at us. "No?" He asked. We shook our heads. "You guys are crazy. Anyway, you guys leave tomorrow. You have monthly checkins here. On top of that, the plane needs to refuel every week." He told us.

"Okay. You are going to call us. Or we'll call you. Incessantly until you pick up." I said, smiling.

He smiled back at us. "I don't doubt it. Alright. You guys have the rest of today. And it's your birthday." He said, looking at me.

"Yup. I'm officially 17." I said.

"Nice. I remember when I turned 17." May said, walking in the room.

"Oh yeah. You guys are old. I almost forgot." James teased them.

"Ha ha ha." Melinda said dryly. "So funny. I'm dying of laughter." She said. I smiled at her.

"Anyway, James, when you go to sneak in some cake for you two, grab some for me too will you?" She asked.

"Sure. Phil, do you want some too?" He asked.

"That would be nice, yes." He said. I sighed and suddenly I was thrown into a flashback.

" _Daisy, you can't have cake for dinner." I told her. I was 9 and she was 3._

" _Yes I can. You just won't let me." She replied. Smart kid, I thought to myself._

" _Well too bad. You have to eat the sandwich first, and then you can eat the cake." I told her. Cake was a rarity, if we could ever afford it. I liked to spend our money on more nutritious things, but James had managed to steal a few pieces._

" _No."_

" _Yes."_

" _Daisy." I said warningly. She folded her arms._

" _NO." she said determinedly. I grinned and decided to use a tactic that always works. I tickled her on her stomach and she fell, laughing hysterically._

" _Sapphire! Sapphire stop it!" She shrieked.  
_ " _Then you have to eat your sandwich." I said._

 _She was still laughing. "Okay okay! Fine! Just stop it!" She said. I did and she was crying from how hard she was laughing and had a giant smile on her face._

" _Here, take three bites of the sandwich and then you can have a bite of cake, okay?" I asked. She nodded and took the tiniest bites of sandwich I've ever seen._

 _I rolled my eyes. "Fine, here." I said, and she took a giant bite of cake. I gave her a look._

I came back from the flashback and I could feel the tears welling up. But they're not going to see me cry. Not now, not ever. I blinked rapidly and made them disappear. They were all looking at me confused.

"Are you sure you're okay?" James asked me. I nodded. He looked at me skeptically but said nothing more.

"Anyway. We have a few hours of free time." May said. "What do you guys want to do?"

"Truth or dare." James said, grinning.

"Oh god. Fine." Coulson said.

"Okay, let's just do it here. I'll start. May, truth or dare?"

"Truth." She said.

"Who's your boyfriend?" He asked her, grinning. I gave him a high five.

She rolled her eyes. "Andrew Garner. He's studying to be a psychiatrist." She said. We looked at her expectantly. "More? Well, here's a picture. Tell anybody and I will kill you." She said, and we believed her.

Suddenly Natasha walked in. "Okay. You guys are playing truth or dare? I taught you two that game. I'm joining in too." She said.

"Cool beans." I said.

"Natasha, truth or dare?"

"Dare, duh." She said.

"I dare you to go threaten Fury, telling him that you know exactly what you've done but be vague." She said. Natasha shrugged, and got up.

"Okay. Watch from the security cameras." She said, leaving. We saw her go up to Fury and he looked at her.

"Agent Romanoff." He said, nodding. She glared at him.

"I know what you did." She accused.

"What?"

"You're a traitor. I should go tell the director now, but I want you to explain yourself." She hissed.

"Natasha, I don't know what the hell you're talking about." He said.

"Yes you do. Now explain yourself or I will shoot." She said, whipping out her gun and aiming it at him.

"Have you gone off the rails?"

"No. But you have. Now tell me, or I will make you." She said coldly, pressing him against the wall, the gun barrel against his head.

"You guys good?" She addressed us. Now Fury was confused.

"Romanoff, if this is some kind of a prank-"

"Well, it is, so what're you gonna do about it?" She asked. He rolled his eyes, dusted himself off, and left. She smirked and flipped her hair, walking back.

"How's that?" She said. I was still laughing hysterically.

"Anyway, Sapphire, truth or dare?" She asked. At first I tensed but everyone here already knew my name so it's okay.

"Dare."

"Kiss James." She said, grinning evilly. I looked at her but didn't show emotion. Crap. I'm blushing aren't I? Yup. I am. But James was blushing too, so I'm not the only one.

I sighed. "Let's get this over with." I muttered. I leaned in and kissed him lightly. It was short, but I swear I saw fireworks.

"Finally. I swear I've been waiting for that to happen for a whole year." Natasha said. We were still staring at each other.

"Hey. Guys. Snap out of it. We know you guys love each other, but we're all here." MAy said.

"We don't love each other." We both protested.

"Oh please. It's so obvious. Everyone sees it. Even the Director, and she's still stuck in the 40s mindset. The only one's who don't know about this is you two." Coulson informed us.

We were blushing. I looked at Coulson. "Coulson, truth or dare?" I asked him.

"Truth." he said.

"Why do you and Agent Cortez hate each other?" I asked.

"Well, she's my ex. I don't hate her. I just don't like her at all." He said.

"I did not see that coming." I muttered.

"Well yeah. It was a nasty break-up." He said nonchalantly. "My turn. James, truth or dare?" He asked.

"Dare." James replied.

"Kiss Sapphire." He said, grinning. We rolled our eyes.

"You can't repeat dares." James said.

"It's not a repeat. First one was 'kiss James', second one was 'kiss Sapphire'. Totally different." May said.

"Whatever. If you guys want to be boring that's your problem." He muttered, kissing me lightly. Again it felt like fireworks. Ugh.

We glared at all three of them.

"Okay, you guys should go pack now." Natasha said.

We nodded and left.

"I can't believe them." I said.

"Me neither. They're ridiculous." he muttered. This is so awkward.

We walked into our rooms and packed up our stuff. I'm going to miss this little room. I actually started sleeping on the bed a few months ago. I'm also going to miss James being literally on the other side of the paper thin wall.

I sighed and grabbed all my stuff, most of it weaponry, and packed it in a duffel. I looked around at the now empty room and something caught my eye from the corner.

I pulled it out and saw that it was a photo of Natasha when she was much younger. She was with someone, I'm guessing Captain America, because of the red, white, and blue uniform, and Director Carter was there too. Captain America had his arm around Director Carter and Natasha was standing next to them, smiling, but her eyes looked very sad.

And now I realize. Natasha was in love with Captain America, but he was with Peggy. Oh my god. But why is this here?

Suddenly I heard footsteps behind me, so I turned around and saw Natasha. She narrowed her eyes at the photo I was holding. "Where did you get that?" she asked.

"Over there. This used to be your bunk?" I asked her. She nodded. "And you used to love Captain America?" I asked.

"You haven't gotten any less nosy," She muttered. "And no. I didn't love Steve. He was with Peggy. And Peggy is my best friend." she said.

"Just because he was with someone else doesn't mean you didn't love him." I said. She scoffed.

"I didn't. Besides, what kind of friend would I have been if I did? Anyway, he's gone now." she said. "Come on, you've got to load your stuff in the plane." she said.

"Thanks Natasha." I said, hugging her. She froze for a second before hugging back.

"You're welcome. Also, don't show anybody that picture or I will kill you." she said. I laughed.

"Only you would threaten somebody while hugging them." I said. She gave me a look.

"You're making me go soft. Let's go." she said.

"Okay." I said, smiling. We walked out and James joined in. Natasha whispered something to him that I couldn't hear and he blushed and glared at her. Natasha smirked and winked at me. Whatever that means.

We walked into the plane and I walked into the small bunk that was even tinier than my first one. It basically had a small bed, a shelf on the side, and a dresser, all compacted into a space the size of the closet.

I put my stuff away and walked out, bumping into a lady, probably Mariana. She looked to be Hispanic and probably around her mid-twenties.

"Hello." I said, smiling. She smiled back.

"You must be Agent X." she said. I nodded. "You graduated at the top of your class?" She asked.

"Yeah." I replied.

"Good. I don't have patience for rookies." She told me. I laughed.

"Oh me neither." I replied.

We walked out of the plane and I walked up to the director's office. I have some things to talk to her about. I knocked and she told me to come in.

"Hello Sapphire." She said once I shut the door.

"Hey Peggy." I replied. She insists that I call her that.

"What brings you here?" She asked me. "Aren't you leaving soon?"

"Yeah. I just thought that you deserve to know something." I said. "I didn't agree to join SHIELD because I wanted to help people, although I do now, I joined to give myself opportunities to find my sister. And even though I'm still going to save as many lives as I can, my top priority will always be finding my sister." I told her.

She smiled. "Oh I know. Natasha told me when you two first started training. She was concerned about your loyalties. Now, she has zero doubts about you, and I never had any to begin with. Every agent has a drive, a reason for doing what they do. For you, it's finding your sister. Just be sure that you understand that sometimes sacrifices must be made for the greater good. If you had to either save your sister or save a thousand lives, which would you choose? Ask yourself these questions, and be prepared for when you do have to make that choice." She advised me.

I smiled. "Thanks Peggy."

"Any time." She replied.


	4. Budding Romance

**Hello everbody! Here's a new chapter for you guys! These have been very difficult for me to write, and I'm going to start posting shorter chapters. Also, italicized parts are flashbacks. Enjoy! :)**

 **2000**

(SAPPHIRE POV)

I woke up tiredly and sighed, looking around. We're going to go on a mission today. Apparently this one's actually dangerous, but last time they said that it was even easier than the rest of them.

I groaned and went to wash up, change, the usual. I've been looking for Skye day and night, whenever I get the chance. I've been using all of my resources to find her, although my resources are few. There is almost nothing in the system about her.

I walked out of my bunk and into the 'kitchen' area to eat something. Probably some packaged junk that tastes like crap, because that's all we have.

James was there as well. Things have been awkward at best between us, some kind of tension there that neither of us have addressed or even acknowledged. We're still close, but it's like there's always these unspoken words between us that can't be heard. It's like I know he's talking to me in a language I don't know, where I can hear the emotion, I know he's trying to say something, but I have no clue what.

We said nothing to one another and simply ate our food. Adrian and Mariana walked in and sat, eating also.

"How did you guys sleep last night?" Adrian asked.

"Fine." I said.

"Okay. What's up with you two? Did you guys fight or something?" Mariana asked.

"No. We're fine." James said.

"No you're not. When we first got here you guys talked to each other all the time. Now you don't."

"Yeah we do. We just don't have time." I said.

"Excuses. Just talk to each other." Adrian said. "If nothing happened then there is only one other explanation. Awkward tension."

"What? No. That's ridiculous." James said.

"Is it? You two have kissed before, right? And you like each other?" Mariana asked.

"No. Yes. No." I said.

"Oh yes you do. It's so painfully obvious." Adrian said.

"The way I see it, you two should just start going out and whatever. There really is nothing stopping you." Mariana told us.

They then left and that left a very awkward James and an equally awkward me. I took a deep breath.

"Blondie, let's be real. I like you. A lot. I'm not going to lie anymore, because this is awkward and annoying." I said, getting it over with.

He stared at me for a minute. "I like you a lot too. But SHIELD partners can't be together."

"Well, who's going to stop us? Peggy loves us, Nick's afraid of us, and Natasha doesn't care." I said.

"Good point." He muttered, and then he did something I wasn't expecting. He kissed me on the spot. I was taken aback by that. It doesn't seem like him, but then again, I've hardly known him the past month.

I kissed him back, wrapping my arms around his neck. He put his hands on my waist and pulled me closer. As far as I know, neither of us have ever done this before, but _damn._ We pulled apart, breathless.

I looked at him. "Where were you last night?" I asked him.

"I accidentally fell asleep in the kitchen. Couldn't you have just accessed my memories?"

"Yeah- JAMES!" I said excitedly.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"Skye! I can just access her memories! I'm so stupid! Why did I not think of this sooner?"

"Well what are you waiting for?" he asked. I concentrated on her memories but for some reason I couldn't access them. I pushed harder, trying to break the invisible barrier.

But then it was like I skipped a giant section of her life. All I could see was what happened while I was with her. I frantically searched her memories trying to find anything, anything at all.

"Sapphire! You're shaking. Stop whatever you're doing." James said, whisper yelling. I blinked, coming back. "You're shaking." he said.

"I- I can't see her memories. None of them except for the ones when she was with us. And then after that- it's blank. I can't see anything." I said shakily. He grabbed my hands and held them.

"Take deep breaths." he said. I did and slowly I stopped shaking. I'm guessing that's what happens when I'm pushing myself too hard. I looked into his memories curiously. What did I look like?

My eyes were sapphire blue, like normal, but they were brighter and almost glowing, and looked like shattered glass. I came out and stared at him.

He looked concerned, but not otherwise affected. That's good.

"Why can't I see them? They're just not there." I said.

"I don't know. Don't worry about it too much. We'll figure it out." He said.

"Right. Okay. We have to go on this mission now." I said, getting up, washing my dish, putting it away, then leaving to grab my weapons. It didn't sink in until just now. He saw me break down. And with that, well, then there are questions asked. I don't want to answer those questions. Yes, he's my best friend. But I don't care. I'm not going to tell him why that freaks me out so much.

I trust him. I do, I think I do anyway. Do I? I mean, I told him everything else without question. He's earned my trust. But for some reason I don't even understand, or maybe I'm denying, I don't trust him with this. It's not even that important. It's really not.

I sighed and pushed those thoughts out of my head. Now's not the time. I have to stay objective and focused on the mission. Grab weapons, grab ammunition, get my comms in and set up, leave, do the job, come back, lock myself in my bunk, think about all this then. I'll brood at that time, alone, by myself, without any eyes or ears intruding.

I walked around like a machine, mindlessly going through my checklist. I let myself not think and just do what I had to do. I was also avoiding James.

He has questions. I'm not answering them. And on top of that, I have questions too. What are we even? Are we together? Not? And even if we are, if that's what we could be classified as, _together,_ what does that mean? I never got the chance to learn about this stuff, much less have actual experience.

I went into the cockpit, setting our destination. James came in and sat next to me. "Blue-" he started before I interrupted.

"Not now. Please, let's just do this afterwards. Okay?" I asked. He looked at me curiously but didn't say anything. I wish I could know what he's thinking.

"Okay. We're here. The plan is to go in, get what we need, get out. There are guards posted everywhere so we have to take them all out silently and bring a few in for interrogation. It would be good if we could lockdown the entire building so SHIELD could take them all in, but if we can't, then we get out immediately." I said. He nodded.

"We actually can lock down the whole building easily. I just have to get to the top floor. So here's what we'll do. You retrieve the data, I'll lock down the building, and we'll leave."

"But how will we leave."

"The data is all stored on the 17th floor, so you can exit out of a window. For me, well I'll be on the top floor and the side of the building where I'd have to be is directly next to another building slightly shorter. A parachute won't cut it." he said.

"Jump." I said.

"What?"

"Jump out of the window onto the other building, we'll have the plane there. It has to be timed perfectly, but it'll work."

He grinned. "Reminds me of the old days." he said. I grinned back. That's the only reason I suggested this to him. He's done it before, on a much smaller scale, sure, but he's still done it.

"Yeah. Out of the window, onto the dumpster, and then out into the alley. I remember." I said, smiling. Then my smile faded as I remembered the two little girls who were with us the whole way through. The smiles on our faces were gone, and we sat there for a few moments in silence.

"Okay. Let's go." he said, and we got up and left. Mariana and Adrian are staying on comms at this point.

We walked out and then entered the building, immediately going into the plan.

Up until I reached the 14th floor, all was well, but then the alarms started blaring and everyone had their guns out and were actually paying attention. So I did the logical thing. I pulled out my knives, my weapons of choice, and threw them at everyone, pinning them all to walls, or at least their wrists, I shot at them, trying to get through quickly.

I got up to the seventeenth floor and was about to finish doing what I had to do when someone shot me from behind in the leg. I wanted to scream from pain but refrained, instead charging at them.

We were fighting without guns, just hand to hand, but even with a shot leg I have the advantage because this person is constantly trying to aim for my weak leg. Big mistake. He tried to kick my leg but that gave me an opportunity to punch him in the face. He was caught off guard and I unsheathed my knives from my sleeves with a simple movement, letting them slide into my hands comfortably.

I slashed and cut and knives are my best friends. Honestly, they are. I've memorized the feelings of these ones, and the grips on them have formed over time in the shape of my hands. They're like an extension of my arms, much sharper, more dangerous extensions.

Eventually he went down, and I quickly did what I had to do and exited out of the window. I have to get the plane on top of the building next door to us. I jumped out of the window and tucked, landing on my back smoothly, and I got back up, running out to the plane.

"James, is the building locked down?" I asked.

"Yes. But you have to hurry. There's at least 50 people coming at me with guns. I can't fight them all." he said. I'm not going to get there in time. There's no way.

"I'm not going to get the plane there in time. Mariana, Adrian, fly the plane over to the roof as fast as you can."

"Agent X, what are you planning?"

"Just trust me and do it." I said, running back towards the building. My leg is killing me but I have to get to the top of that building within the next 5 minutes. I had remembered something from my past.

" _Hmmmm. Look at this. Little girls." said a man, probably drunk or high or both, looming above us. I glared at him._

" _What do you want?" I asked._

" _Oh nothing much. You're just going to come with me." he said, grinning menacingly._

 _I kicked him in the crotch area and grabbed Skye and Natalie, signalling James who had stopped dead behind the creepy man to come around and meet me at the top. I jumped onto the windowsill, climbing up. I climbed up more stories until I reached the roof and James was waiting for me there._

I glanced up between the buildings and saw exactly what I remembered there being, bricks that stick out, creating grooves between each brick, and better yet, handholds.

I climbed up and each time I lifted my leg a wave of pain shot up my entire body, but I grit my teeth and went faster.

As I climbed, my right leg lost grip of one of the handholds and my left leg- the injured one- slipped away and banged into the wall. I yelled in pain but braced myself and kept going. There's just a few more stories left. I eventually reached the top and pulled out my gun, aiming it at the men behind James, and stood by him.

"Your leg is bleeding." he said, not looking away from the many people aiming guns for us.

"Really? I didn't notice." I said. Then I smirked and unsheathed one of my knives. "Cover me." I said, and then, working in unison like we usually do, he moved in front of me while I went behind, aiming the knife above all of them, at a window that was built perfectly so that if I hit it just right, it will shatter on top of them. We were back to back and I was facing away from the enemy, but I don't need to look at them to have perfect aim. I launched it and it landed straight where I wanted it to go and glass rained on top of them.

I had noticed the type of glass on the windows earlier. It's a certain type of glass that will break into shards will extremely sharp, narrow points that, from that distance and that gravitational force, can seriously injure and or kill anyone it falls on. I moved next to James again and joined him in firing.

The plane landed outside and we ran out the building, and I was lagging behind because my leg was weak and killing me. The adrenaline surge is gone and now I can barely breath. "Go." I said to James. "Get in the plane and shut the door. I'll hang on the outside and when we're out of their line of fire I'll come inside." I said.

"You're an idiot." he said, putting his arm around my waist, supporting me and helping me go faster. "James-" he gave me a look that said he's not going to listen to me, so I slung my arm around his neck and we got to the plane safely. They shut the door behind us and Mariana immediately started looking at my leg. She lifted up my pant leg revealing the gunshot wound on my lower thigh.

"How long has it been since you got shot?" she asked.

"10 minutes, 15 maybe." I said.

"You're an idiot." Adrian said. "Climbing up a 45 story building with a busted leg." he was shaking his head.

"So I've been told." I replied, grinning.

"Why are you smiling?" Mariana asked me.

I laughed. "That's the most excitement I've had in ages. I missed it. The adrenaline rush I mean. Not the pain. That I could go without." I said.

James laughed. "I know what you mean. When can we do it again?" he asked.

Mariana and Adrian looked at each other exasperated. "Teenagers." they muttered.

James and I looked at each other and laughed. "No really. We've been fighting for our lives since we were little. So these missions get kind of boring sometimes." James said.

The two adults shared a look. They don't know much about our past, besides the fact that we don't have any family, at least that we care for.

"Okay. You're leg is all stitched up." she told me. I sighed and got up, walking over to my bunk. I changed quickly, throwing on a t-shirt and shorts. I'm not in the mood to wear full length pants.

I walked out, tying my hair up in a ponytail. I sat down on the couch, hissing as my leg pressed into it. The gunshot wound is on the back of my leg, so sitting and standing is going to hurt like crazy.

James came and sat next to me. "You really are crazy, you know that?" he asked.

I grinned. "Why would you think that?" I asked.

He laughed. "I could make a list. You jumped out a window without a parachute, you ran and climbed up a 45 story building with a shot leg, and so much more. Anyway, Phil called."

"What did he say?" I asked, leaning my head on his shoulder. For us, that's not an affectionate action. It's normal. We grew up on the streets with no bed, no pillows, no safe place to lie on our back, so often we leaned against the alley wall, leaning against each other so we don't fall and crack our skulls on the hard pavement.

"He said that he contacted Nancy and Austin. You're going to meet them tomorrow. They'll be at the Hub." he said. I nodded and we stayed silent for a minute.

"James, why didn't you stay with them? They offered it. Why didn't you?" I asked him quietly.

He shrugged. "I- I was scared." he admitted, biting the inside of his lip.

I looked at him curiously. "Why?" I asked softly.

"I don't know. My birth parents were abusive. When I told somebody, they moved Natalie and I to a foster home. The foster parents didn't want me but they wanted Natalie and I wasn't willing to separate from her. So you know, I got in trouble for that. They moved me to another foster home where the husband used to hit his wife, and he hit Natalie when she was only 2, so I hit him back. He beat me. Then they sent me back to the orphanage, saying I was violent. That's where this is from." he said, pointing to the slowly fading scars on the back of his neck. "That night I took Natalie and ran far away from there. I didn't have a good experience with people taking me in under the pretense that they wanted to help me." His eyes were glassy and distant, staring at the floor in an effort to regain control. I know because I do the same thing.

"James, why didn't you tell me?" I asked. It pains me to see him like this.

"The same reason that you won't tell me why you broke down this morning." he said, looking into my eyes. His eyes are an interesting color. They're light blue, but not pale or grayish. They're bright, like the focal point of his face. They look so much older than the rest of him, like there's so much more behind them than any 17 year old should have. And I know that's true. So much more has happened to him than you would think could fit into his lifetime.

"It's not because I don't trust you," I said, my voice sounding hollow even to my own ears. "It's just-"

"I get it. It's hard to talk about." he said, and his voice was genuine. He wasn't bitter or annoyed, something that's hard to find in people. I don't know if he heard what I heard in my voice, but if he did, he's not acknowledging it.

"I'm not used to, you know, letting people in. I've never really done that before. I'm pretty sure you can relate." I said quietly. "This is all kind of new to me. Opening up to people, telling them how I feel, I've never done any of it. And-" I stopped myself.

"And?" he asked, looking at me.

"And I don't really know how to love somebody. I don't know what that feels like, except for Skye. I love Skye. But really, that's the only person I've cared about that much." I said.

"Well, I don't either. So it's okay. We'll figure it out." he said.

"It's funny. All these things, they're such mundane things. So simple and I should know. But I don't." I said.

"Maybe it is stuff we should know, but I don't think it's simple. Nor do I think it's mundane." he said.

"Then what is it?" I asked.

He leaned closer, so we were breathing the same air. "I think it's exhilarating." he said, smirking.

I laughed and closed the distance between us, kissing him.

 _We were crouching down on top of a stack of boxes, keeping watch from up high. I sighed._

" _This is so boring." I said tiredly._

" _No it's not. Listen. You can hear them breathing, us breathing, footsteps walking by, water dripping from that pipe there." He said. "It's like you're hyper aware of everything."_

" _I'm always hyper aware of everything." I said, smirking._

 _He shoved me lightly. "No need to brag." he said, smiling._

" _I still find it mundane." I said._

" _I find it exhilarating." he said, smiling at me._

I'm very hyper aware right now. I can feel the fabric of his pants touching my legs and the way his thumb was ghosting over my cheekbone, barely touching, as his hand lay rested on my cheek. I could feel the gap between his shoulder muscle and bicep underneath his shirt as I ran my hands over his arm.

I'm aware of how close he is to me right now, and how close I am to him. Yes, this is exhilarating.

We don't know what we're doing, we're just going along with whatever feels right. And this, this feels very right. We pulled apart and I smiled at him.

"I think I may be falling in love with you. Let me figure out what love is for sure and I'll get back to you." I said, grinning.

"I'll look forward to that." He said, grinning. I tried to reposition my leg when a bolt of pain shot up my entire body. I groaned.

"You would think it would get better by now." I muttered.

He looked at me, his lips twitching amusedly. "It's been less than an hour." he said.

"Exactly!" I said frustratedly. "My fastest healing time for a gunshot wound is 36.5 minutes, so it shouldn't be taking this long."

He looked at me, his eyes concerned and alarmed and confused all at the same time. "How do you know that?"

I winced. "Well, um, when they were experimenting on me there, they would sometimes shoot me in various spots to see how fast I would heal."

He grit his teeth. "They would just shoot you to get data?" he asked, outraged.

I shrugged. "It didn't hurt that badly. And even so, i shot him in the head." I said.

"Good." he replied, and the intensity in his eyes was a little frightening.

"Guys, we'll be at the hub soon." Adrian said, walking past us.

"Okay." We said. I got up, wincing slightly, to go put on my slacks and blazer and all that jazz.

I managed to get the shorts on and off no problem, and even my tight tactical suit was easy to get off, but these slacks are killing me to put on. I grit my teeth and did it anyway. All I want to do is put on some sweats that are loose and not tight.

I pulled my blazer on over my blue shirt and exited. We walked into the hub and I was greeted by the familiar hustle and the agents and the sterile smell of lemons.

We walked into Nick's office for debriefing. When I looked at him my jaw dropped.

"What happened to your eye?" I asked.

"It was an unfortunate accident." was all he said, and I could tell it was a sore spot for him, so I didn't ask anything more.

We sat down and began to debrief.


	5. Missing Skye

**Hi guys! New chapter! This has two separate oneshots in it, and they take place at different times. The timing is specified when it changes. Enjoy! :)**

 **2000**

(SAPPHIRE POV)

I knocked on the door nervously. I thought they were dead. But they're not, and I'm about to see them again. I swallowed and May put a hand on my shoulder. She's never been one for physical contact, so I appreciate the gesture.

The door opened and they were same two people I remember from eight years ago. They look the same. They still smile the same way they used to smile at me, at Skye- no. I can't think about her. Not now.

Nancy's kind green eyes and slightly graying brown hair. Austin's warm smile and- he's in a wheelchair. I smiled tightly, knowing that I did that. It's my fault. I remember how he used to throw Skye up and catch her. I'm still thinking about her.

Then Nancy hugged me and I hugged Austin, trying not to break down right at that moment. and I know the question that's coming next. But it never came.

"So what's happened in your life since we've last seen you?" Nancy asked, smiling. Her smile was strained, like she knows the answer isn't pleasant.

I glanced at May who smiled encouragingly. "After we left we found some shelter for the night. We stayed there for a while, and I managed to keep us alive. But then, one night, the inhumans found us. They tranquilized us, but when I woke up there were others attacking the inhumans and Skye was being taken away by one of the attackers. Then I went unconscious again and then when I woke up Skye was gone and I was in handcuffs. I was there for a while, and they were experimenting on me, trying to replicate my genetic makeup. Then they told me, they told me that they killed her. I shot him in the head but then SHIELD got there and I ran. I remembered what you said though. I trusted them and went with them. And then I found James again and we're on a four person team working for SHIELD." I summarized, my voice dry by the end. My eyes were glassy but I stared at the floor, making them go away. I glanced up and I saw their faces looking horrified and angry and sad and so many other emotions that I can't even read.

"How long? How long were they experimenting on you?" Austin asked quietly

"Four years." I said, my voice cracking a little. I don't let myself think about that. I don't let myself dwell on it. But lately it's been coming up more and more and I can't take it anymore.

I steeled my nerves. I will not cry. I am strong, or if I'm not, I can pretend to be.

"I'm okay now though. It's over." I said, reassuring both myself and them.

"Sapphire, you can't push this away." Nancy said gently.

"There's no point in dwelling on it. It's over now." I said.

I spent some more time with them until I had to leave. I went back to the plane slightly numb. Everything reminds me of Skye. Seeing them reminds me of Skye. Austin's wheelchair reminds me of why it happened in the first place, because I had to protect Skye. She always came first. And now she's not here.

I can't feel anything. I'm barely holding back tears. But I can't cry in front of anyone. Never again. I've done it once, but then I was foolish and naive.

I can't show weakness. I have to be who they think I am. Lighthearted and humourous. Someone who laughs at everything. I don't tell them that every single mission I go on reminds me of Skye, that everything I do reminds me of her. Eating reminds me that my life wasn't always like this, with food supplied to me. It reminds me that I had to provide for both of us.

Sleeping reminds me that I didn't used to have a bed, and instead I used to hold Skye as she fell asleep, trying to make sure she's safe.

My powers remind me of why I ran away from Jaiyang and Cal in the first place.

My eyes remind me of hers.

My hair reminds me of hers.

My skin reminds me of hers.

I walked into my bunk, locked the door, sat down on my bed and looked around.

The pillow reminds me of how she would use my stomach as a pillow for herself, or sometimes my shoulder.

The door reminds me of how she hated the color gray.

The small drawers remind me of how few possessions we owned.

The gun sitting underneath my pillow reminds me of how much she hated me using them.

The knives at my sides remind me of how she was afraid of them.

I could feel my eyes tearing up. I'm making myself cry. And I don't have to, but I am anyway.

" _James, I can't stop. They- they can't see me like this." I said, my voice wavering and unsure, tears spilling down my cheeks._

" _Sapphire. Calm down. Take deep breaths."_

" _I can't." I said, my breathing uneven._

" _Yes, you can." he said, his voice steady and calm. We were sitting back to back, the way we usually do, in order to keep watch from all sides._

 _I took deep breaths, trying to match my breathing to his. I calmed down._

" _I- why couldn't I stop?" I asked._

" _Sometimes you want to cry, even if you won't admit it to yourself. You can't keep it locked away forever." he said._

" _Do you ever cry?" I asked him._

" _Sometimes. When I'm alone." he replied, his voice near silent._

The tears were flowing full force. Maybe James was right. Maybe I just want to cry. Maybe I want to let it out. I haven't really let myself think about Skye at all.

But now that I have, I can't stop. I can't control the flood of emotions that's beating against me and it's too much. I put my face in my hands and cried into them, then soon turning wet with tears.

I miss her. I miss her so much. Where is she? Is she having a good life? Does she even remember me? Is she even alive?

What if the reason I can't see her memories is that she's dead? That there are no memories to see?

That made me cry more. I started flicking through what memories of hers I could see, trying to find something, anything, to tell me whether or not she's alive. But there's nothing.

Absolutely nothing there that I can use to comfort myself or at least try and fool myself once more into thinking she could actually be alive.

(JAMES POV)

I walked down the hall of the plane, thinking things over. I'm looking for Sapphire because Natasha wanted her to call, but I have no idea where she is. I walked up to her bunk, about to knock when I heard her crying inside. I haven't heard her crying in years, but I know it's her.

I knocked. "Blue?" I asked.

"One second." she said, her voice sounding hoarse and dry. I heard her get up and unlock the door, opening it.

She didn't look good. Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy and her cheeks were tear-stained. And suddenly we were little kids again, and I remember how she used to look the exact same, only smaller, with less tiredness behind her eyes.

 _I came back from getting food, and we had only been working together for about a month. So I was shocked when I saw her crying. The whole time I had known her, she had appeared cold and hard, strong. But now she was sobbing, her head buried in her hands, her knees pulled up to her chest._

 _She heard me and opened her eyes, staring at me, waiting for my reaction. Her eyes were blue, a deep deep blue that somehow still looked bright and they were thoughtful, although they were bloodshot and glassy._

" _Sapphire?" I asked._

 _Her eyes hardened and she wiped them with her palms, standing up and suddenly she didn't look vulnerable anymore, she looked like how she always does, cold and distant. Her eyes had faded back to dark brown._

" _You tell anybody you saw me like that and I'll murder you in your sleep." she threatened._

" _I don't doubt it." I replied._

 _She sighed. "We have to move now." she muttered, waking up our sisters. I never asked what she was crying about._

I acted on impulse, wrapping my arms around her. This time, she didn't hide it. It's been a long time since she's made herself vulnerable. I've only seen it a few times.

She didn't pull away, she didn't protest. She just cried into my shoulder. This is the side of her that nobody really sees, the side that makes me hurt on the inside. She wrapped her arms around my waist.

I'd forgotten about this. About how broken she is and how well she hides it.

This time, I know exactly why she's crying.

"We'll find her. Okay? We will." I said quietly.

She didn't respond, crying harder.

"She's dead. Why else would I not be able to see her memories?" she said.

"She's alive. Logically, think about it. If they erased her past memories, maybe that could be the reason. Don't assume she's dead yet." I said.

She pulled away a little. "But, there's nothing there. It's just- it's blank." she said quietly, and she looked defeated. Her blue eyes looked empty and shallow, like everything that used to be behind them vanished.

Was this how I looked after Natalie died? Like my whole reason for living just disappeared? Probably.

"We'll find her." I promised. We're going to, no matter what.

 **2001**

(SAPPHIRE POV)

I'm eighteen years old and I have never gone to a mall. Mariana says that's a problem, so she's taking me today. She says it'll be fun. She also says it'll be a girls day out.

It sounds so fun. Can't you see me grinning in excitement? Oh, never mind, I'm scowling.

She dragged me into the car. "Come on. We're going to a giant mall."

"I don't want to." I whined.

She glared at me. "What were your plans for the day?" she asked.

"To sit on the plane in my sweats and a tank top watching sappy romances." I said.

"You have a sad life." she said.

"I know. And I accept that." I said.

"Oh come on." she said, shutting the car door and getting in the driver's seat.

"So. How's life?" I asked.

"Decent. I kind of have something to tell you." she said.

"Okay." I said, not expecting anything groundbreaking.

"I'm pregnant." she said.

I squealed. "Oh my god! We're going to have a little mini you running around! Oh this is so exciting!" I said.

"Okay okay. Relax." she said, laughing.

"How can I relax? This is so cool!" I smiled brightly, but then I remember. I remember when Jaiyang was pregnant with Skye.

" _Lily!" she called. I walked over there, nervous. What was she going to ask me to do this time, and what would I have to refuse?_

She only spoke to me when she wanted something, otherwise she didn't care. Unless other inhumans were around. Then she was a loving, caring mother. I got a bitter taste in my mouth thinking of her.

" _Yes?" I asked._

" _In a few months, you're going to have a younger sister." she said. "Are you excited?" she asked._

 _I was tempted to tell the truth, shake my head rapidly and object, tell her to get rid of it. Not for the reasons every other five year old doesn't want a sibling. I don't want my sister to live the life I do. I don't want her to have to use her powers for evil._

" _Yeah." I said instead. I don't want her to get upset. I don't want to get punished. But that made me feel selfish and horrible._

" _You don't sound excited." she said, giving me a look._

' _I'm not.' I thought. Aloud I said otherwise. "Of course I am. I've always wanted a sibling." I said, faking a smile._

"Agent X? Is everything okay?" Mariana asked me.

"Yeah. Yeah, everything's fine." I said, shaking myself out of the memories. "I'm really happy for you guys."

She smiled slightly. "Do you have any siblings?" she asked.

I stiffened and she noticed. "Never mind." she said quickly.

"No no. It's fine. I had an older sister, Laurel, but she died when I was three. I also have a younger sister, Skye." I said, my voice hoarse. Laurel died when the two of us were put through terrigenesis. For some reason she wasn't inhuman, even though I was. We were exposed to the gas at the same time, even though she was four years older. She died in front of me.

That's why I took Skye away from there. I couldn't stand to think that she might not survive it either. I mean, my dad is human, so it makes sense that one or two out of the three of us wouldn't be inhuman.

We got to the mall and walked inside. She smiled at me. "We're going to buy you lots of clothes."

"I doubt any will fit." I said.

"Nonsense. You're tall, not the abominable snowman." she said.

"I'm too tall. I don't even know where that came from because the people who gave birth to me are both average."

"Well, it doesn't matter. We'll find you clothes." she said firmly, giving me the 'I'm your senior and you will listen to me regardless of your crazy teenager ideas that will get you killed' voice.

"Okay." I agreed.

First she took me into some store called forever 21. I just went with it and let her drag me inside.

It's huge! There's clothes everywhere! I've never seen so many clothes in one place in my entire life.

She picked out a flowy floral top and I shook my head, pulling out a black tank top instead. She gave me a look.

"I forbid you from the color black." she said.

"Awww, but-"

"No buts."

She found me a beige cardigan and I shook my head, picking out a charcoal gray leather jacket. She rolled her eyes at me but let me get it.

She also found me some light peach jeans, but I found some ripped up skinny jeans.

"Oh my god. Your sense of style is so…..emo." she told me.

"You get it now? So help me find some more black clothes." I said, smiling. Colors aren't really my thing.

"Fine. Come on. We're going somewhere else next." she said, pulling me after her.

We paid and then left, myself carrying one bag and her carrying two. I'm not one for shopping.

The next store she dragged me into made me want to run and hide. It's called Victoria's Secret, but I don't think Victoria has anymore secrets, let's be honest.

She smiled at me. "Come on. It won't be that bad. You've been using Company issue clothes for far too long." she told me, not mentioning SHIELD outright.

"Okay. Fine. But if my eyes burn out of my sockets it's your fault." I told her. She laughed.

Then she handed me a bunch of stuff and forced me to go try them on. I don't want to be here. I don't want to do this.

But I did it anyway. Thankfully they were mostly black, because if they weren't, I wasn't going to try them on.

I looked in the mirror and sighed. "I prefer myself with clothes on." I muttered under my breath. "It'll be fun, she said." I muttered as well.

It's not that I have a bad body, because, not to brag, but I look good. I mean, I train almost constantly. It's difficult to get out of shape for me.

I've just never spent time staring in a mirror, especially half naked.

I sighed and tried on everything else.

"How did it fit?" She asked.

"Great. Let's go." I said. She laughed and we paid then left.

We walked over to the next store, H&M.

I like this store. There's a lot of black stuff. I grinned and Mariana rolled her eyes.

"So this makes you happy?" she asks.

"Yes. Very." I said. She laughed.

I ended up getting three bags of clothes from here. I smiled brightly and she took me to the next store.

Sephora. Oh you have got to be kidding me. I don't like makeup. My skin is fine, my eyelashes are long enough, and my eyelids are gorgeous, thank you very much. And lipstick? Forget it.

"Here. Buy some eyeliner and mascara. You'll love it." she said.

"No."

"Yes."

"NO."

"YES." she said, and we proceeded in a staring contest. And this time, she won.

"Fine." I muttered. She smiled.

"See? It's so much easier when you just listen to me."

"Okay mom." I joked. She smiled and we paid and then left the mall.

"So how'd you like it?" she asked.

"Um it was good I guess." I said.

"You got a decent amount. Although you got one thing with color in it."

"That's one too many. Color is impractical." I said.

"No it's not. It adds originality to your clothing." she said.

"Right. Impractical. Black is easier to pull off too."

"Whatever you say." she said, sighing.

"Can I drive?" I asked.

"Do you know how to drive normally? Not the SHIELD way?" she asked warily.

"Of course I do. Don't doubt me so much." I said, smirking. I got in the front seat and relished the control I had over this giant vehicle.

Driving makes me feel free and in control. I don't get that feeling often. I remember the first time I had driven a car. It was exhilarating.

I smiled and drove back to where the plane was and walked inside. I put everything away and then changed into my sweats and a tank top, my original plan for the day. I got comfortable, grabbed my tablet, and started watching my cheesy romances.

Then James walked in. "What are you watching?" he asked.

"Cheesy romances." I told him, smirking.

He made a face. "I don't understand you." He said, shaking his head.

"I don't understand you either. It's okay. You want to join me?" I asked.

He sighed. "Fine. But can we watch something else?" He sat next to me.

"Kay. What do you want to watch?" I asked.

"I'm fine with anything. Just not cheesy romance." he said. I laughed. "I don't want to watch anything, actually. I'm hungry." I said.

He gave me a look. "What? Are you going to be sleepy next?" he asked.

"Probably." I agreed. He laughed.

"Fine. At least you gave me a heads up." he said.

"You're so mean to me." I said. He smirked.

"I try."

I hit his arm lightly. "Jerk." I muttered. He laughed.

"I was kidding. And that hurt." he said, smiling.

"I know." I said. I kissed him. He kissed back, his hand sliding down from my waist to my hip, pulling me closer.

I pulled away a little. "You know, this was my original plan for the day." I informed him.

He smirked against my lips. "I figured." he said, kissing me again. I wrapped my arms around his neck. I shifted closer, but then we heard a loud cough.

"Knock knock." Mariana said. We pulled apart.

I gave her a look. "Yes?" I asked, not moving from our current position.

"Just wondering what you were doing. Did you put away what you bought?" she asked.

"No. I'll do it later." I said, wanting her to go away.

She smirked. "I see. You're busy." she said.

"Yes. We are." I said. She didn't take the hint.

"I can see I'm not wanted."

"No. You're not. Can you leave?" I asked.

She laughed. "Okay. Going." she said. I rolled my eyes and she left, smiling.

I looked back at James. "Where were we?" I asked. "Right." I said, kissing him again.


	6. Tears and Birthdays

**Hello everyone! I watched civil war on wednesday. IT WAS AMAZING. Oh my god. The plot was so well developed. And I was obviously on team Cap, 100%. And did you see his biceps during the helicopter scene? Apparently he asked if he could do that scene shirtless, which would've been amazing, but the directors said it wouldn't make sense with the plot. It's unfortunate. Anywayyyyyy, I'm sorry for the long wait. I just got caught up with other things and I had so many ideas for the one-shot story I'm writing so I had to write those down and I have at least 10 different chapters in progress right now. So enjoy! :)**

 **2002**

(SAPPHIRE POV)

"Hey Blondie." I greeted, walking into the kitchen area.

"Hey blue." He said, looking sad.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Today is, was, Natalie's birthday." he said quietly.

I moved forward and hugged him tightly, not knowing what to say. There really isn't a solution to his problem except what I've told him already. I can't say anything or do anything to make his pain go away.

"It's going to be okay. You're going to be fine." I said.

"But she's not." he said, his voice breaking.

"I know." I said quietly. He buried his face into my shoulder and cried. Adrian walked in but I gave him a look and he turned right back out.

"Why did I do that? Why did I let her die? I left her there." he said.

"It's not your fault. You were trying to look out for her." I told him.

"Yeah, trying. And I failed." he said.

I grimaced. He didn't fail her. At least he knows where she is, at least he made sure she was buried properly. Skye could have died and her body could be rotting somewhere and I'm such a terrible older sister that I don't even know. "You didn't fail her. You were with her the whole time." I said.

"Sapphire, she died. She's gone. All because I couldn't keep her safe." he said sadly, pulling away and looking at me. I placed my hands on his shoulders.

"James, look at me." I said. "I don't know what comes after death, but I know that she would never blame you for any of it. _You_ know that she would never blame you. She would never want you to blame yourself."

"You're right. She wouldn't want me to, but she also didn't want to die. We don't always get what we want." he said.

"But you can make sure that she gets this one thing. I get it, believe me. Wanting to give them the best you possibly can. And when you can't, it kills. But you can give her this." I said.

He nodded and I hugged him again. "I love you." he said quietly. I was slightly shocked by this.

"I love you too." I replied. And I get it now. I know what love is. I know what love means. I smiled slightly.

 **2003**

I woke up this morning with a terrible headache and I feel miserable. I grabbed a sweater and threw that on on top of my shirt and went into the bathroom. I look terrible. My eyes are red and swollen and my face is flushed. I brushed my teeth and washed my face, but didn't bother with my hair. I curled up back in my bed and tried to get warm. I started coughing terribly.

I groaned and grabbed my phone. I texted James not to come this morning. We're staying at the hub in rooms, with a bathroom and bedroom and a tiny kitchen, for a few months. Mariana and Adrian have a little boy, Chris, and he's the most adorable child I've ever seen. You know, after Skye and Natalie.

James was going to come to my room for a while and we were going to hang out but I'm really sick. He texted me back asking why. I replied saying that I feel like I'm going to throw up and I'm probably sick.

Five minutes later, someone knocked on the door. I walked over to the door and opened it to see James standing there, holding a bag, and walked in.

"Please, make yourself at home." I muttered. He looked at me.

"Take a shower." he said.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"It'll open up your sinuses and bring down the fever. Take a hot shower." he repeated. "I'm going to make you soup." he said. I was about to reply but I started coughing.

"You can cook?" I asked.

"Of course I can cook." He said, smiling.

"Since when?"

"My older sister taught me." he said, his expression turning sad for a second. "But that doesn't matter." he said, shrugging,

I sighed. "Okay. I'll be out in five minutes." I said, grabbing some clothes and walking into the bathroom.

I ended up spending half an hour in the shower. Whoops. Fury is probably going to yell at me for using too much water but I don't give a damn.

I threw on a pair of joggers and a t-shirt and walked out, my hair still wet. James glanced at me and smiled. "The soup is ready." he said. "And you took wayyyy longer than five minutes." he said, smirking.

"Yeah. Fury is going to come over here within the next ten minutes to yell at me." I said.

"Probably." he agreed. "Here. Try it." he said.

I looked at it. "It looks really good, and it probably smells good too, but I can't smell anything." I said, then I took a sip. "Wow, this is actually really good."

"You sound so surprised." he said, smiling amusedly.

"Well, maybe if you had cooked for me before I wouldn't be." I said. He laughed.

"Good point."

I finished it all quickly. "Thanks." I said. He smiled.

"No problem." he replied.

"You're very smiley today." I noted.

He nodded. "Yup."

"Why?" I asked. He shrugged.

"I'm just in a really good mood." he said. I gave him a look.

"Does my sickness amuse you?" I asked.

He laughed. "No. Try and guess why." he said.

"I don't know." I said exasperatedly.

"It's your twentieth birthday." he said, smiling.

I rolled my eyes. "Really? I feel so old." I said.

He laughed. "Can you believe it's been four years since we met again?" he asked.

I shook my head. "I can't believe it." I admitted. Then I started coughing again. I groaned. "It feels like I'm coughing out my lungs." I said.

He looked at me sympathetically. "Do you have any medicine here?" he asked.

I nodded. "Cabinet on the far left." I said, coughing again. I got up and took it from him, downing the pill quickly.

He placed a hand on my shoulder and I looked at him. "Being sick is terrible." I said.

"I know." he said.

I groaned. "I'm not doing anything today." I said. Then there was a knock at the door.

I went to open it and there was Natasha, holding a large brown bag.

"Wow. You look terrible." she said.

"Thanks." I said dryly. She walked inside and sat at the small table.

"Come in, please." I muttered.

"Thanks." she said, ignoring my sarcasm. "So how's life?" she asked.

"Well, I don't know if you noticed, but I'm sick." I said.

"Oh I noticed. I brought you guys lunch." she said, pulling stuff out of the bag. "Phil and Mel are coming down here in a few minutes. Peggy might come too." she said. I groaned.

"Did you just invite the entirety of SHIELD over here?" I asked.

She nodded. "Only the important people. It's your twentieth. That's important. I've got at least, hmmm, about 8 more years until I turn twenty." she said.

Then someone else knocked at the door. James answered it this time and it was Fury. "Where is she?" he demanded.

I walked by the door. "Hello."

"You're using too much water. We're letting you stay here free, so you have to follow the regulations." he said.

I rolled my eyes and Phil and Melinda came up behind him, walking in. "What is it with you guys? You just waltz in!" I said exasperatedly.

"I brought cake." Melinda said.

"I brought drinks." Phil said.

"What did you bring?" Natasha asked Fury.

He raised his eyebrows at her. "Nothing Romanoff." he said.

"Well, I suppose you can come in too." she said.

"Natasha!" I protested. She laughed.

"I'm your SO. I can invite whoever I want in." she said.

"Former SO. And I don't mind him being here." I said. Then Peggy walked in.

"Hello everyone." she said.

"Hey." I replied, shutting the door. "Now what?" I asked.

"Now, we play truth or dare and eat." Natasha said.

I laughed. "Okay fine." I said. My cough has gone away mostly, so I think the medicine is working.

We all got food and sat down wherever dthere "Sapphire, since you're the birthday girl, truth or dare?" Natasha asked.

"Truth." I said.

"Have you and James done it yet?" she asked.

I wasn't expecting that at all. "Yeah." I replied. _She_ wasn't expecting that.

James and I laughed. "You asked." he said.

"I'm just shocked is all." She muttered.

"Anyway, Nicholas, truth or dare?" I asked, smirking.

"Don't call me that. And dare." he said.

"Okay Pirate. I dare you to go apologize to some rookie agents and give them a heartfelt confession on why you're so mean." I said, grinning.

"Ugh fine." he said. We watched from the cameras.

He walked up to some new agents and they looked at him warily. "I'm sorry." he said. They looked shocked. "I don't mean to be so rude and cold hearted." he told them.

They glanced at each other, freaked out. He went on to talk about his feelings and emotions. I was cracking up. I leaned against James, as I was having trouble supporting myself otherwise. He was laughing equally as hard, and we were both shaking with laughter. Fury walked in and glared at me.

"That was terrible. Phil, truth or dare?" he asked.

"Dare." he said.

"Call Audrey and break up with her." he said.

"Pirate! I never knew you had that in you!" I said, laughing some more.

"She's going to kill me." he muttered, calling her. "Hey Audrey. Do you have some time? I have to talk to you." he said.

"Yeah. I'm on lunch break right now. What's up?" she replied.

"Well, you know, I just don't think this is working out." he said.

"No. I don't know. What are you saying?" she asked.

"Audrey, you know that I work in a difficult industry." he began.

"Phillip Coulson, if you're breaking up with me-"

"Wait. I am breaking up with you. But first you should know something. I love you, and this was a dare." he said, grinning.

She was silent for a moment. "You know, if I was there in person, I would slap you." she said.

We all laughed. "I know you would." he said.

"Was this X's idea?" she asked.

"No. It was Fury's idea." he replied, smiling.

"I'm flattered you thought it was me." I interjected.

"It just seems like the kind of thing you would do." she said, laughing. "Anyway, my break is over. I have to go."

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye."

"Okay, Peggy, truth or dare?" he asked.

"Truth." she said.

"Was Captain America's shield really made of vibranium?" he asked excitedly.

She rolled her eyes. "Yes it was. You're a little too obsessed." she said. I glanced at Natasha and she looked back at me, raising her eyebrows at me. I gave her a pointed look and she shrugged. James gave me a questioning look from next to me and I just shrugged again.

"That's just so cool." Phil replied.

"Stop fangirling." I said, laughing. He glared at me.

"I'm not fangirling." he said.

"Yes you are." Came the chorus of objections.

"Melinda, truth or dare?" Peggy asked.

"Truth." she replied.

"Who's your favorite person in this room?" she asked.

"Hmmmmm. That's difficult. Probably X." she decided. I grinned.

"Awwwww Mel. You're my favorite person in this room too!" I said theatrically.

"What about me?" James asked from next to me.

"I love Mel more than you." I teased.

"Wow. I feel betrayed." he said.

"It was always my intention to leave you for her." I teased, continuing our charade.

"I don't want you." Mel cut in, and we all laughed.

"Don't worry. I'll take you back." James said, laughing.

"How kind of you." I replied, kissing him.

"This is too . . . Adorable. I can't be here." Fury muttered.

We laughed and he glared at us. "No I'm serious." he said. We rolled our eyes.

"Oh come on." Phil complained. Then Pirates phone started ringing. He answered it and then shrugged.

"I actually have to leave now." he said.

"Sure you do." I said.

"It's work. Speaking of which, you all have work to be doing too." he said.

"I'm excusing them." Peggy said, amused.

"Good point." he muttered, leaving.

"Well then. Mel, your turn." I said.

"Right. Hmmm, James, you haven't been picked yet." she said.

"Hmmmmm, truth." he decided.

"Who is the prettiest person in the room?" she asked. I rolled my eyes.

"Hmmmm. I think Phil is." he joked, putting his arm around the older man.

"Oh definitely." May agreed.

"Stunningly beautiful." Natasha said.

"Shut up." Phil groaned.

"Hmmm. Okay, my turn. Natasha, truth or dare?" James asked.

"You didn't answer truthfully." she replied.

"Wow Natasha. I find that offensive." Phil said.

"Okay fine. I think Sapphire is the most beautiful person in the room." he said. I blushed slightly.

"I think that you are the most beautiful person in the world." he whispered in my ear. I blushed harder.

"You're so cheesy." I said, smiling. "But thank you." I kissed him lightly.

"I'm going to throw up." Natasha said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Love is for children." she said simply. I raised my eyebrows at her and she glared back.

"No it's not." I said. "We love each other." I said.

"You two are kids compared to me. I've been alive for 89 years and I've only aged 4 years in that time. At this rate I'll die in the three thousands."

"I've been alive for equally as long as you Natasha, a little longer actually. Love isn't for children. You just have to find someone worth loving." Peggy told her.

"What's the point? They'd just get old and leave me behind. Not that it'd be their fault, but it's pointless."

We all just looked at her sympathetically and she glared at us. "Don't give me that look. I'm forever single and proud of it." she said.

We shrugged. "Anyway, I choose dare." Natasha said.

"Okay. I dare you to egg Fury." James said.

She rolled her eyes and grabbed a couple eggs out of the fridge, then walked out. We watched from the security cameras.

She climbed into the vents as fury walked by. Then she dropped them. "Romanoff!" he shouted.

"Yeah Nicky?" she asked, swinging down.

"Was this a dare?" he asked.

"Yes."

"By who?" he asked.

"James."

"I'm going to kill him. After I shower." he said.

"You're bald anyway." Natasha pointed out.

"Good point. Still going to kill him though." he said. Natasha walked back towards us.

"Okay guys. I have to head out." Natasha said.

"Same."

"Me too." And then everyone left except for James and myself. Well, of course I didn't leave.

I kissed him and when I pulled away, he raised his eyebrows at me. "Are you still sick?" He asked.

"Nope. Any sickness I get goes away quickly." I said.

He smirked. "Good. Because I wouldn't want to get sick." he said, kissing me again. When we broke apart for air I looked at him.

"I've been wanting to do that all day." I said breathlessly, kissing him again. He put his hands on my hips and I threw my arms around his neck, kissing him harder.


	7. Abuse and Pranksters

**Hey guys! I'm so sorry about the long wait but I haven't had access to a computer because I was in India and didn't bring my laptop and anyway my laptop has been broken so before that I didn't have it either and I only just realized you can update on your phone. I've been writing on my phone using the google docs app I just didn't realize you could update so yeah I'm really is the chapter where you start to see Sapphire transitioning from a mostly happy, joking kid, to the person you see in The Romance of Jadason. So enjoy! :)**

 **2004**

(SAPPHIRE POV)

"Sapphire . . . promise me you're not going to go do something crazy right after I tell you this." Coulson said.

"Depends." I replied.

"I'm serious." he said.

"Okay. I promise." I agreed.

"We have a lead on Skye." he said. "We found a foster home she's staying at."

"What?! Where?" I demanded, basically jumping in excitement and joy and anxiety. James gave me a strange look.

"You're going to break the phone yelling into it like that." He said, smiling.

"I sent you the coordinates." Phil said.

"Thank you so much. Really. You have no idea how much this means to me." I said.

"I have a bit of an idea. But don't get your hopes up too high. We're not sure if she's there or if she ever was. It could've been another girl her age by the name of Skye. Don't be too disappointed." he said.

"I understand. Thanks again." I said.

"No problem. Bye."

"Bye."

"So you have the coordinates?" James asked.

"Yeah. I'm going to leave now." I said.

"I'm coming." he added.

"You don't have to." I told him.

"But I want to." he replied.

I shrugged. "Let's go then."

We got on a plane and set the coordinates. It's in New York, so a relatively short flight. We were silent most of the time until he noticed me fidgeting slightly.

"What's up?" he asked.

"What if she doesn't remember me?" I asked. "What if she's hurt or-"

"Sapphire. It's all going to be fine, okay? Even if she doesn't remember you, it can't be worse than not knowing where she is. At least she's alive." he said.

I winced. "I know. I just worry. Who knows what's happened to her? She'll probably hate me for abandoning her." I said, looking at him.

"You didn't abandon her. You were kidnapped. That's hardly the same thing." he told me quietly.

"But I still left her on her own." I argued, not looking at him. He tilted my chin up slightly so I had to look at him.

"You didn't abandon her. Even if that's what she thinks now, that's not what she'll think once she understands the situation. I promise, it'll all work out in the end." he said. I smiled slightly and kissed him briefly.

"I'm going to go in. I'll let you know if I need you to come out." I said.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come?" he asked.

"Yeah. It'll be fine." I said. He nodded.

"Be careful." he told me. I smirked.

"When am I not?" I asked. He rolled his eyes.

"Is that even a question?" I laughed and left, concealing my gun and knives in my suit. I knocked on the door, assessing the surroundings.

It was a medium sized house, a typical suburban neighborhood. It had a green grassy front lawn and the sprinkler systems were running.

A teenage girl opened the door, and I have no doubt that it's Skye. She has my hair, my eyes, she's basically the younger version of me. Now that I'm here, in front of her, I can't speak or hug her or do anything if the kind. I just want to hold on to her and never ever let go.

"Hello. Agent X from SHIELD. Can I please speak to your guardian?" I asked professionally, trying to keep my cool.

"Um, yeah." she replied. "Come in." she said. I walked inside and she shut the door behind me. I stood in the entryway as she knocked timidly on a door to the den and opened it.

"Mary-Sue. How many times have I told you not to interrupt me? You're going to-"

"We have a guest." she cut him off, but I saw the scared look in her eyes.

I also noticed a small bruise peeking out from under her shirt that she tried to cover up, but failed. I saw a scar on her lip. My internal alarms were blaring.

"Nice to meet you. I'm agent X of SHIELD. Can I speak with you for a moment." I asked, for now suppressing my anger. I searched through his memories, and was furious at what I saw.

He had- oh god I'm going to be sick. "No." he snapped. "Get out of my house."

"Sir, this is government business. She's going to be coming with us." I said, my voice taking on an edge. He gripped Skye's arm tightly, and she winced. That's sure to leave a bruise.

"I don't care about your government crap. Get out. Now." he said.

"I'm going to warn you once more. Let her come with me or I'll take her forcefully. I have evidence that this is no longer a safe place for her to be."

Suddenly he had a gun aimed at me. I flipped it out of his grasp and aimed it at him along with my own. In an attempt to get the gun back he released Skye.

"Go. There's a plane outside. Just trust me." I told her, fighting him.

She nodded and ran, and as she ran I noticed a bite mark on her shoulder, from her loose T Shirt slipping down, and my vision turned red.

I went crazy on the guy. I snapped many of his bones and glared at him.

"You terrible person. I'm going to kill you. Slowly and painfully." I said.

"That makes you just as bad- as- as me." he said, struggling as I choked him.

My grip faltered and my aim wavered. He used that opportunity to get up and punch me hard. But I feel numb and I could hardly feel it. I'm like him. I'm like this guy and I'm just as bad of a person as Samuel is.

He compared me to him. He did those terrible things to Skye- but I've done terrible things to her to. I abandoned her. Just as he was about to shoot me, a bullet hit straight through the chest. His eyes rolled back and he slumped back.

"What happened?" I could hear someone asking me. "Come on Blue. Can you hear me?" I heard the same person asking me. James. That's James.

But I can't respond. I feel numb and drained, like everything just drained out of me.

I could hear him asking me things, but I don't know what he's asking. After a bit of this, I could feel him pick me up and take me back to the plane.

I saw Skye running away out of the corner of my eyes and I couldn't do it anymore. She doesn't trust me. Of course she doesn't, she doesn't know me, doesn't remember me. She's hurt and scarred and I probably made things worse by almost killing that guy.

He was right. I am just as bad as him.

I could feel James put me down in my seat, but I still can't say anything, can't do anything, can't feel anything.

I could hear him trying to talk to me, to get me to talk, but his efforts are futile. Even if I could respond, I wouldn't know how to tell him that I'm a terrible person and that he should get far far away from me.

I could see the plane landing and I could feel myself walking back to my room, and I know that James was with me the whole time, but I still feel numb.

My thoughts are spiraling in my head out of control, and I can't breathe. I feel like I'm suffocating on my own failure.

And then the dam broke. I started crying uncontrollably, trying to stop but failing. Failing. Just like I failed at everything else. I'm a failure.

James pulled me in close and I cried into his chest, wanting to just curl up and die. There's no reason I'm here. There's no reason I should be here.

"You're going to be okay Sapphire. It's going to be fine. We'll find her." he said.

"No." I protested, my voice hoarse from crying. He looked at me shocked. "No. She deserves better than me. I've failed her so many times. I was ready to kill that man for what he did to her. I'm no better than he is. She ran because she was scared of me James. And she was right to be. I'm not a good person." I said.

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." he said after a moment's silence.

I looked up at him and he stared right back. "You are a good person. You are so much better than he is. He hurt people for no reason. You hurt him because he hurt Skye." he told me.

"I still did it, regardless of why." I murmured. He stroked my hair comfortingly.

"Intentions and motives do matter. It's what sets the good guys apart from the bad guys." he said.

"That's what Nancy used to tell me." I said, crying harder. She had died a few months ago. I attended the funeral and didn't even shed a tear because I couldn't accept that the only person I've ever viewed as a mother figure was dead. But she is dead.

It's all hitting me now. "I promise. It's all going to be fine." he said.

"No it's not. It's never going to be fine. Nancy's dead because of me. Austin's in a wheelchair because of me. Skye ran away because she was scared of me. It's all my fault." I said.

"It's not your fault. None of it was." he said firmly, and the intensity in his voice made me believe him, just a little bit.

"How can you even say that? You know it's not true." I muttered.

"It is. It is true. I know it. You know it. Everyone else knows it. Do you think Nancy would want you to think like that? What about Skye, if she remembered? And Austin, who you could see at any moment? What about Natasha and Mel and Phil and even Nick, all people who would vouch for you. What about Peggy? Or Mariana and Adrian?" he asked. "Everyone cares about you. Everyone knows you're a good person."

I didn't respond, instead just crying my eyes out because I am a bad person and he won't accept it. I scare my own sister for god's sake.

"He hurt her. He touched her." I said, feeling sick.

"We'll find her. I promise." he said.

I dried my eyes and looked at him. "Do I look like I've been crying?" I asked.

"Not really." he said. I smiled slightly.

"You're such a liar." I said.

"Okay. Maybe just a little bit." he admitted.

I shook my head. "I can't believe it. She was so close. So freaking close and I failed." I muttered.

He looked at me. "It's okay. We'll find her." he said.

"Will we though? She's smart. She managed to stay hidden for a long time." I said.

"She wasn't trying to hide from us though." he said.

I looked at him. "If she wasn't then, she definitely is now."

 **2005**

Natasha is making me do something I'm going to regret, I know it. She told me we're playing never have I ever, but instead of chocolate like we usually do, we're using shots. Oh god. I have a high metabolism, so my alcohol tolerance is also high, but Natasha is Russian. When she drinks, she drinks.

I don't know why we can't keep using chocolate. I mean, chocolate is amazing. I'm going to make sure my children one day have chocolate as their first solid food. Chocolate is life. It's my heart and soul. I swear to god, if I could survive on just eating chocolate for the rest of my life, I would. Hell, I would find a way to turn back time so I could start doing that from a younger age.

Although, if I could turn back time, the first thing I would do is keep Skye safe.

"Come on. We're meeting Natasha right about now. Mariana and Adrian are coming this time as well. And so is some new agent. Grant Ward? He's a teenager, Garrett found him." James told me. "Oh, and you might want to wear layers." he said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because we might play truth or dare later but Natasha, like always, plays differently. If you don't do a truth or dare you have to take off an article of clothing." he said.

"Oh great. She better turn on the AC." I muttered. I threw on a sweater then laughed, because I'm wearing a sweater on shorts. Smart.

"Hmm. AC. That's Phil's title abbreviated. Agent Coulson, AC. I'm going to call him that from now on." I decided.

James just laughed. "Okay. Go for it." he said. We walked down to Natasha's place. She has an apartment outside of the hub, but it's literally just outside the hub. They have a living sector here, a very small one, for people like us that have no life. I'm probably going to move there soon.

"Hey." I said, walking in.

"Hey. We can start now. I cannot wait to see James drunk." Natasha said, grinning.

I smirked. "Me neither."

"Oh please. You're going to be drunk too." she said, smirking.

"Aren't you too young to get drunk?" Someone new asked. Grant was his name. He's tall and on the skinnier side. He looks young, maybe 18? But his eyes look old and slightly haunted. I was tempted to search his brain, but decided against it. I don't want to invade his privacy.

"Nope. This is SHIELD, kid. You're not too young to get drunk either." she said.

"I'm pretty sure I'm the same age as you." Grant replied.

Natasha laughed. "Unless you're 90 years old, we're not the same age." she said.

His jaw dropped. James smirked. "You know, maybe you shouldn't have dropped it on him like that. Maybe eased him into the idea that you're older than all of us, much less 90. Sorry about her. I'm James. That's X." he said, addressing Grant.

"Grant." he introduced, not questioning my name.

"Okay. Enough pleasantries. Let's get started." Natasha said. "X, James, pour yourselves shots."

We did and then I turned to Phil. "AC, you start." I said.

"AC?" he asked.

"Agent Coulson, AC." I explained.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Don't call me that." he said.

I just smiled. "Okay. Never have I ever shot more than 20 people at once." he said. I took a shot, and Natasha took a shot. Nobody else.

"Never have I ever had a little sister." May said, as she was next. James and I both took shots.

James was next. "Never have I ever had multicolored eyes." he said, smirking at me. I took another shot, glaring at him.

"Never have I ever been named James." I said.

"Oh come on! That's not fair!" he said.

"It is too. Now take your shot." I replied. He rolled his eyes and did as told.

"Never have I ever been in a relationship." Natasha said. Everyone but her and Grant took a shot.

Next was Mariana. "Never have I ever been taller than 5'9"." James, Grant, and I all took shots.

"Never have I ever climbed a building with a shot leg." Adrian said. I glared at him and took a shot.

"Never have I ever had blond hair." Grant said. James rolled his eyes and took another shot. Natasha took a shot too. We looked at her and she shrugged.

"It was for a mission." she said.

"You know, I think they're targeting us." James whispered in my ear.

"Oh you think? They want to see us drunk." I said, laughing.

The game continued on for a while and James and I were completely gone by the time it ended.

"Okay. Time for truth or dare." Natasha said.

(NATASHA POV)

Oh this is great. James and Sapphire are so drunk. "That sounds fun." Sapphire mumbled.

"It will be." I promised. "My house, I start. James, truth or dare?" I asked.

"Truth." he said. Aww, he's still slightly sober. Well we can fix that.

"How often do you and Sapphire spend the night in each other's rooms?" I asked.

"Uh- do I have to answer that?" he asked, too drunk to remember the rules.

"That or take off an article of clothing. Remember, you only have so much on you." I said, snickering.

"Three to four times a week." he said, literally about to pass out. I laughed.

"You two are cute."

"Shut up." Sapphire mumbled, leaning against him.

"Okay. Grant, truth or dare?" James asked.

The kid looked slightly alarmed at being asked this question by a highly intoxicated James, but didn't let it show much. I like this kid. I feel like he's hiding something though. I'll just have to figure it out.

"Um dare." he said.

James grinned. "Okay. Go get that ballerina tutu over there, put it on, go into the hub cafeteria and dance your heart out while singing opera." he said.

"Awww James you're so mean. He's new to this too." Sapphire slurred. "You're eyes are very blue." she said, looking at him strangely, tilting her head.

"Your hair is very brown. And straight. But it's also kind of curly. It's strange." James replied. May laughed.

"I think the word you're looking for is wavy, James." she said.

"WAVY! That's it! Your hair is wavy!" he said excitedly.

"I think these two should stay here. Somebody has to watch them." Phil said.

"How about we all leave them here alone and see what they do." I said nonchalantly. "It'll be so much more entertaining." I said flatly.

"I can't tell if you're serious or not, but I'm hoping not." Adrian said.

"Nah. She's serious." May said, getting up. "Let's do it. They'll probably be going at it by the time we get back."

"And then when we get back, they can sterilize every surface in the room." I said nonchalantly.

"You're crazy." Mariana said.

"Thanks. Let's go." I said. Grant just shook his head.

"Give me another dare, please." he said.

"No can do kid. James just had another drink. He won't respond to questions in just a bit." I said.

He groaned. "Just take off your shirt." May offered.

He tensed slightly at that, but so slightly that nobody else probably noticed it. "Whatever. I'll do it." he muttered, pretending he didn't care.

(LATER)

Oh that was great. I still can't stop laughing. I really hope those two aren't doing the dirty right now, because I just got my carpets cleaned.

We walked in, but instead of seeing them making out or going further, they had both crashed on the floor.

Sapphire looked like she had crashing first, her head resting on his shoulder, and his head is resting on top of hers. They were leaning against the wall, and it's adorable.

I snapped a picture quickly to use as blackmail later. "Well they can stay here the night. Everyone else can go home." I said.

Slowly everyone left except for May, who grinned at me.

"You know what we have to do now, right?" she asked me.

I nodded. "Of course. What do you take me for?"

"Sharpie mustaches?" she asked.

"On sapphire. Sharpie makeup on James." I replied.

"I like the way you think." she said. "Now give me those sharpies."

(MORNING SAPPHIRE POV)

I woke up with a massive headache. I groaned and tried to sit up, only to realize I was asleep next to James. Normally that wouldn't be alarming, except I don't remember going to sleep with him last night, and most certainly not in Natasha's guest room. I moved his arm and sat up, and then felt the strong urge to punch Natasha as I saw his face. He had sharpie makeup all over it, and I'm assuming my face is equally as bad.

I got out of bed and headed towards the bathroom, groaning when I saw my face complete with sharpie mustache and beard.

I walked out of the room frustrated and saw Natasha lounging on the couch, reading a book.

"Oh good, you're awake. You might want to put on some clothes though." she said. I looked down and then glared at her. I'm wearing my underwear. That's it.

"Where are my clothes?" I demanded. "And how come James got to keep his?"

"We were pretty sure you'd kill us if we took off his clothes." she said.

"We?" I asked.

"May and I. We." she said. I groaned again.

"Just give me my clothes back."

"They're in the closet." she said. "Oh, but look at me for a second. I want to admire my handy work."

"Yeah okay. You just want to take pictures." I said, rolling my eyes and walking out.

"We already did." she called as I walked back to the guest room.

"OH MY GOD. What happened to my face?!" James asked, horrified. He glanced at me. "And why aren't you wearing anything?"

"Natasha and May happened." I muttered, going to the closet and grabbing my clothes.


	8. Looking For Skye

**Hello Everyone! I know it's been such a long time since posting but between school and not having a computer readily on hand for me to post on it's a little difficult to post regularly. I have been writing though! I already have another story ready to start posting soon! Anyway, enjoy!**

 **2005**

(JAMES POV)

We have zero leads on Skye. Every single one we've had has been futile. There have been instances where we just missed her, and some where she was never there at all.

Sapphire has become obsessed with finding her. She doesn't sleep or eat, she just searches. Day and night. It's honestly not healthy. I get why, but she needs to eat.

No offense to her, but she looks terrible. Phil, Melinda, Peggy, Natasha, and even Nick have been trying to get her to stop. Just for a little while. She's been in the research center for too long.

"Come on Blue. You have to eat." I said, putting my hands on her shoulders. She's gotten so thin.

She turned and glared at me. "For all we know she's not eating anything."

"We'll find her, but you'll be much more helpful once you've eaten and slept and maybe showered." I said.

She just continued glaring at me. "I need to find her. Who knows what kind of hell she's been through lately."

"Nobody knows. You can't be like this. You're not being any help by making us all worry about you too." I said.

"I have to find something." she said again.

I grabbed her hands, which were also way too thin. "Come on." I said, pulling her up.

She tried pulling away but I wouldn't let her. "Let me go." she said, glaring.

"No. You need to eat." I said.

"If I eat will you leave me alone?" she asked. I gave her an offended look.

"Rude." I muttered. She rolled her eyes.

"I don't have time for this."

"You don't have time for what?" I demanded. "Eating? Sleeping? The things you need in life?"

"I need Skye."

"And Skye needs you to eat. You think you look approachable and friendly right now? Not really." I said, not sugar coating it.

"Fine. I'll eat. But then I'm coming straight back here." she said reluctantly. I nodded although I have no plans of letting her come back here at least until tomorrow. She needs to eat and sleep.

"What do you have?" I asked as we walked into her apartment. I looked in the pantry and found almost nothing there except for peanut butter and jelly, so I decided to go with that. Her fridge is also pretty empty. You would think nobody had been here for years. Her bed was made and didn't have a single wrinkle in it, another sign she hadn't been sleeping.

I handed her the sandwich and she ate it without complaint, finishing it in a second. "I told you you were hungry." I said.

"Yeah yeah. Whatever. I'm going back now."

"No you're not." I said. She looked at me stubbornly.

"You can't stop me." she said indignantly.

"Yes I can." I replied, standing in front of the door. I'm taller than she is by at least a few inches because she's really tall.

"What do you want?" she groaned, crossing her arms.

"Go to sleep."

"Why?"

"Because you haven't slept in weeks." I said.

"Because there's been no time. You're wasting my time too."

"Fine, if you don't want to go to sleep, we can watch a movie, okay?" I suggested. "But you're not leaving this room until you sleep for at least 8 hours."

"Okay." she muttered, sighing. "I can't believe you're keeping me hostage in my own home."

"Believe it." I replied, handing her the remote.

"Watch whatever you want to watch." I said. She groaned.

"James. This is such a waste of time."

"You've been searching for weeks. You're not going to find anything that you haven't already." I said.

"You're so annoying. Oh my god." she complained, flopping on the couch reluctantly. I sat next to her.

"You don't mean that. What are we watching?" I asked.

She grinned at me. "Princess Diaries." I gave her a look.

"Seriously?" I asked.

"Yes, seriously. You said whatever I want to watch." she replied. I groaned.

"Okay okay. Fine." I said. She smiled triumphantly and played it.

(LATER)

The movie is only halfway done and she already fell asleep, her head on my shoulder. I turned it off and picked her up, taking her to her bed. No way am I going to wake her up after she finally fell asleep.

I was about to leave when she grabbed my wrist. "Stay. You make me sleep, you have to cuddle with me." she mumbled.

I shook my head. "You're crazy." I replied.

"Shut up and hold me. I'm tired." she said. I stared at her in disbelief for a second before doing as she said.

(NEXT MORNING)

I woke up next to Sapphire and she looked peaceful for once. I glanced at the clock and it's already 11:00. I'm going to let her sleep in for as long as possible though.

I got up and walked out of the bedroom. "Hey Natasha. I finally got her to eat and sleep. She's still asleep right now." I said on the phone.

"That's good. She needs rest. Stay with her. I'll tell fury you two are out for the day. Make sure she eats lots of fattening foods. Not to quickly though or she'll vomit." she said.

"Alright. Thanks."

"No problem. Bye."

"Bye."

I sighed and opened the fridge and there's nothing in there. Literally nothing. I guess if she's still sleeping I could go get her some actual food. The only thing she has is peanut butter, jelly, bread, and rotten milk.

(SAPPHIRE POV)

I woke up feeling well rested but starving. Who am I kidding, I've been starving for a while.

I got up and walked into the kitchen and saw James there making eggs by the smell of it. I owe him one. This is the first time I've slept in at least two weeks besides half hour naps that were totally unintentional.

And eating? Forget it, I haven't eaten in four weeks. I hugged him from behind and rested my head on his shoulder.

"Thank you." I said.

"You're welcome. I got you food." he said. I kissed him on the cheek.

"I love you." I said.

"I love you too. You seem to be much more agreeable today."

"Yeah, sorry about that." I said, wincing.

He grinned. "So was I right or was I right?"

I rolled my eyes. "Or."

He gave me look.

"Fine….. you were- ugh, right." I admitted.

He smirked triumphantly. "I told you so."

"You're so immature." I said.

"Are you doing okay now?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. I'm just really tired and hungry still." I said.

"Promise me you won't do that again, okay?"

"I-" I trailed off. I can't promise that, in fact I was planning on going back to my search after this.

"Sapphire." he said, looking at me. "I'm not saying to stop looking, not at all. If I was in your position I would be desperate too, but you have to take care of yourself."

"James, I can't do that."

"What's going to happen if you die, hmm? If you die because you're not eating or sleeping? We'll all keep looking, but when we find her, who's going to restore her memories so she even remembers me at all? And who's going to make sure she trusts us? And who's going to be her older sister?" he asked, giving me a look.

"I'm not going to die…" I trailed off.

"It's not healthy and I'm not letting you leave until you swear to eat and sleep daily." he said stubbornly.

I crossed my arms. "Fine. I swear." I said.

"You swear to what?"

"I swear to eat."

"And?" he asked, sliding the egg into the plate.

"I swear to eat and sleep." I said.

"How often?" He turned to me.

I rolled my eyes. "I swear to eat and sleep daily." I relented.

He smirked, seemingly satisfied. "See. That wasn't so hard."

"I just hate wasting time."

"Hey, we're going to find her. But this is not the way to do it."

I sighed. "Okay." I agreed reluctantly.

 **2006**

(SAPPHIRE POV)

"What do you mean, she's not in the best condition?" I asked Fury angrily.

"I mean, when we found her, she was severely injured. She looked malnourished as well, and she had probably been on her own for a while. She moved quickly. We couldn't catch her without hurting her." he said.

"Where did you last see her?" I asked.

"Near St. Agnes." he said. "About an hour out."

Then I realized something. The last few times I visited st. Agnes, I was asking for Skye. I should've been asking for Mary Sue.

"I'm going to St. Agnes." I decided.

"Again?" he asked dryly.

"Yes, again." I replied, walking out.

"James!" I called, walking towards him.

"Yeah?" he asked as I got to him.

"I'm going to St. Agnes again." I said. "I've been doing something wrong. I need to find out what name they gave her over there so I can find her using those records. There'll be nothing in the system about Skye because that's not her legal name." I said.

He nodded. "When are we going?"

"You don't have to come." I said.

He raised his eyebrows. "Did you really think I wasn't going to?"

"Good point. We're going now." I said, starting to walk.

"Blue . . . Don't get your hopes up too high. It's possible we won't find anything." he said.

"I know." I replied, although I can't really help it.

We got in a plane and started flying over to St. Agnes. The nuns are starting to get sick of me but I don't care. I mean, I am thankful to them for taking care of Skye for all these years, but at the same time, I need to find her. And if that means driving those nuns crazy, I'm going to do that.

"Oh. You're back." Sister Catherine said dryly as I walked in.

"We've been asking about the wrong girl. Is there anyone here that goes by the name Mary Sue?"

"Not anymore. She ran away six months ago. The police couldn't find her." she said.

"Do you have any idea where she might have gone?" James asked.

"I'm sorry, no. You can ask the girls, although she didn't have many friends around here."

"Okay, thank you." I said.

Then a little girl tugged on my sleeve. "Are you looking for Mary Sue?" she asked.

"Yes. Do you know where we can find her?" I asked.

"Well, she had a stash of money she hid under her pillow. She told me she was going to get out of here someday and live by herself somewhere." she said.

"Did she mention where she might go?"

"She said she wanted to go to New York City."

"Thank you so much." I said, getting up.

"James, we're going to New York City."

"Let's go then. That's a pretty large area to cover. Do you have any way to narrow it down?"

"Let me make some calls." I said, pulling out my phone. "Natasha. I need you to send out the picture I'm going to send you to all your contacts in New York City. Send it to Stark if you have to, I don't care."

"Got it." Natasha replied, hanging up. I sent her the picture quickly.

I immediately got a call back. "That's Skye?"

"Yes."

"She's been wanted for stealing a van, about 30 minutes ago. I have the license plate." she said.

I put her on speaker as we got back in the plane and James started pulling up the traffic cameras.

"There." he said, pointing.

"Alright. We see her. Thanks Natasha."

"No problem." she replied, hanging up.

We flew directly to the location, tailing her, and then we landed the plane. We got out, running towards the van.

We weaved through traffic, and the van stopped and Skye ran out.

"Skye!" I shouted. She turned around.

"How do you know my name?" she asked.

"Just trust me, okay? I'm an agent of SHIELD. We just want to help you." I said.

"No you don't. I'm fine. I don't need your help." she said, turning and running again. I was about to run after her when James stopped me.

"Don't. She'll be too hard to bring in right now. And we're in public. If we make her come against her will it'll be seen as kidnapping." he said.

I stared at him. "I don't care what it'll be seen as. Let me go." I said,

He shook his head. "No. Stop. Think for a second. You're a federal agent. You can't just do whatever you want." he said.

I glared at him. "This isn't about me."

"Just let her go for now." he said quietly.

I sighed. "Fine." He let go of me and we walked back to the plane.

"You can't save someone who doesn't want to be saved." he said, staring straight ahead.

"Well I'm going to have to."

"That's not what I'm saying. You have to wait for her to come to you." he said.

"That's not going to happen."

"Give it time. She doesn't know you. She's not going to trust you. She's not going to want to come with you. You can't force her to do any of that." he told me.

I sighed and stared out the window. I can't accept that she doesn't remember me. But I'm going to make her remember me. Someday, I will.


End file.
